A Microscopic Theory on the Phase Transitions in NH4Br –An Ising Spin Phonon Coupled System–

CsCl type NH 4 Br crystal has been treated as an Ising spin-phonon coupled system to explain the phase transitions associated with the orientational order of NH 4 + ions. The appearance of two ordered phases is explained as essentially due to the fact that the direct interaction between NH 4 + ions stabilizes parallel ordering while the indirect interaction through phonons stabilizes the antiparallel ordering. Based on a microscopic hamiltonian describing the spin-phonon coupled system, several experimental results have been analized such as (i) anomalous lattice expansions (ii) orientational order parameters (iii) spontaneous displacement of Br - ions (iv) P - T phase diagram (v) X-ray critical diffuse scattering. Semiquantitative agreements are obtained. Especially the property of correlated fluctuations of displacement of Br - ions seems to give a support on the validity of the microscopic model used.