On Ferroelectric Barkhausen Pulses of Rochelle Salt

Ferroelectric Barkhausen pulses were observed when an electric field was applied on a rochelle salt crystal. The volume corresponding to a pulse and the dependence of the number of the pulse on temperature, humidity and strength of applied electric field were studied. It is found in the present experiment that the volume is the order of 10 -9 cm 3 which is in accordance with Kojima and Kato's result. It is also found that the critical field at which pulses begin to take place is proportional to the n 'th power of spontaneous polarization. The value of n determined from the experiment is 2.7±0.5. This result can be explained satisfactorily assuming that walls are stabilized at hollows in a crystal before a field is applied on the crystal.