We report the discovery of a compressibility phase transition at 160 K in crystalline copolymer films of vinylidene fluoride ( $70\%$) with trifluoroethylene ( $30\%$). This phase transition is distinct from the known bulk ferroelectric-paraelectric phase transition at 353 K and surface ferroelectric phase transition at 295 K. The new phase transition is characterized by an increase in the effective Debye temperature from 48 to 245 K along the $〈010〉$ direction as the temperature falls below 160 K. This phase transition is evident in neutron scattering, x-ray diffraction, angle-resolved photoemission, and in the dipole active phonon modes in electron energy-loss spectroscopy.

• Received 30 June 1999

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.4562