Structure of crystalline oxide ceramics studied by phonon spectroscopy

This paper describes a method for gaining detailed insight into the structure and phonon spectrum of polycrystalline oxide ceramics. We examine how the diffusion coefficient of subterahertz phonons is related to the properties of a system of grain boundaries and to the grain size and structure and demonstrate that the temperature dependence of the phonon diffusion coefficient at liquid-helium temperatures is determined by the spectral properties of the intergranular layer, which allows one to estimate the volumeaveraged intergranular layer thickness and acoustic impedance. We also analyse the effect of plastic deformation via twinning on the formation of the structure of grains and intergranular layers, which determine the thermophysical, acoustic and optical properties of ceramic materials.