Changes in the velocity and attenuation coefficient of quasilongitudinal waves
propagating in a TGSe crystal in the directions z' = z-4°
and x, induced by uniaxial stress σx and σy, were measured in the temperature range of the ferroelectric phase
transition. The uniaxial stress applied was found to shift the phase
transition temperature by ∂TC/∂σx = -0.074 and
∂TC/∂σy = -0.18 K MPa-1. Other
effects appearing under the influence of external stress, such as a change in
the jump of the wave velocity at the phase transition, increase in the
attenuation coefficient and broadening of the phase transition range, are
discussed on the basis of the phenomenological theory. The relaxation time of
the order parameter fluctuations was determined. For stress exceeding 2 MPa an
additional anomaly in the wave velocity and attenuation appeared, which was
interpreted as a splitting of the phase transition. The nonlinear elastic
effects at the phase transition, in the para- and ferroelectric phases, are
also discussed.