Synthesis and Characterization of Ferroelectrics

Abstract

"Ferroelectrics belong to one of the most studied groups of materials in terms of research and applications. Apart from their foremost property (the ferroelectricity), these materials also display other numerous attractive properties such as piezoelectricity, pyroelectricity, electrocaloric and electro-optic effects, etc., which designate them as multifunctional materials. Therefore, these materials are suitable for a wide range of applications ranging from effective sensors, transducers and actuators to optical and memory devices. Since the discovery of ferroelectricity in Rochelle salt in 1920 by Valasek [1], numerous applications using such effects have been developed. In addition, ferroelectrics, and other ferroics, exhibit a highly non-linear response, which is changeable rather than fixed, mimicking, to a large extent, biological systems [2]. Consequently, this kind of behavior is qualified as “smart” and respective systems are termed as “smart materials” [2]. This Special Issue on “Synthesis and Characterization of Ferroelectrics” covers a broad range of physical properties of ferroelectrics, their technological aspects and contains a mixture of review article and original contributions [...]".