The dielectric and piezoelectric properties of the ferroelectric BaTiO₃ were measured and analyzed using both strong and weak electric field conditions. To measure the electric field induced polarizations and strains, a high voltage source and the measuring circuit were used and the dielectric constants were measured with an impedance analyzer. The spontaneous polarization of BaTiO₃ at room temperature was calculated as 17 μC/cm² based on the lattice structure and internal ion location, which is in good agreement with the experimental results. The polarization and strain hysteresis curve according to the electric field were analyzed in terms of lattice structure and ion position. The magnitude of remanent polarization is proportional to the offset distance of Ti⁴⁺ ion from the lattice center. The magnitude of dielectric permittivity is proportional to the degree to which Ti⁴⁺ ion can move freely inside the lattice. The magnitude of piezoelectric constant d₃₃ is proportional to how much Ti⁴⁺ ion distorts the lattice as it moves inside the lattice.

Lead-free bismuth sodium titanate (BNT)-based ceramics have attracted strong attention as environmentally benign dielectric materials for high-efficiency electrostatic energy-storage capacitors. A key challenge is that pristine BNT typically exhibits large hysteresis, high remnant polarization, and limited dielectric reliability, which restrict recoverable energy storage and efficiency under practical electric fields. Here, we present a focused mini-review of recent studies to clarify how composition design, phase boundary tuning, defect chemistry, and microstructural control collectively enable slim or pinched polarization-electric field (P-E) behavior and improved energy-storage functionality in BNT-related bulk ceramics. The reviewed outcomes consistently show that stabilizing relaxor states governed by polar nanoregions (PNRs), often via solid-solution engineering and secondary relaxor/antiferroelectric-like incorporation, suppresses irreversible switching and reduces hysteresis loss, while densification and grain-size control enhance electrical homogeneity and breakdown strength. In addition, defect-mediated tuning of oxygen vacancy-related complexes is highlighted as an independent lever to control relaxor ergodicity and polarization reversibility, providing a complementary route to slim-loop optimization. These insights are expected to guide integrated design strategies that couple phase/relaxor-state engineering with defect and microstructure optimization, accelerating the development of reliable, temperature-robust, lead-free dielectric capacitors based on BNT-related ceramics.

Drain Induced Barrier Lowering (DIBL) was analyzed when the channel of Gate-All-Around (GAA) FET, which is the most promising in the miniaturizing transistor structure, has an elliptic cross-section. The oxide film structure used a stacked Metal-Ferroelectric-Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor (MFMIS) structure using SiO₂ and ferroelectric. An analytical DIBL model was presented to analyze the DIBL in elliptic GAA FET with ferroelectric. Its validity was proven by comparing the results of other papers. As a result, the Drain Induced Barrier Rising (DIBR) effect, that is, the negative DIBL effect, appeared depending on the ferroelectric thickness tfe, and the ratio of the remanent polarization Pr and coercive field Ec in the ferroelectric, Pr/Ec. The DIBL varied linearly with tfeEc/Pr, and the slope depended on the rate of change for the drain voltage of the ferroelectric charge Q, dQ/dVds. The tfeEc/Pr value satisfying DIBL=0 mV/V decreased as eccentricity increased. The ferroelectric thickness tfe will have to be decreased because the subthreshold swing increases if the Pr/Ec is increased to reduce the tfeEc/Pr value. The threshold voltage increased at this time, but the effect was minimal.

This paper presented an analytical SS model to determine the subthreshold swing (SS) of an elliptic junctionless Gate- All-Around (GAA) FET using ferroelectric. Analyzing a GAA FET with an elliptic cross-section was essential because it is difficult to manufacture a perfectly circular GAA FET. The results of the proposed SS model agreed well with 2D numerical simulation. Using this analytical SS model, SS was analyzed for the eccentricity and the ratio (P_r/E_c) of permanent polarization P_r and coercive electric field E_c in an elliptic junctionless GAA FET with an MFMIS (Metal-Ferroelectric-Metal-Isulator- Semiconductor) structure using ferroelectric. As a result, the changing rate of the average surface potential due to the gate voltage increased and SS decreased as the eccentricity increased. It was found that the inner gate voltage amplified more than the outer gate voltage due to the ferroelectricity, better controlling the carriers in the channel, thereby reducing SS. As the P_r/E_c decreased, the changing rate of the ferroelectric charge for the outer gate voltage increased and SS decreased. As the eccentricity increased, the changing rate of SS for P_r/E_c decreased. There was no significant change in SS until the eccentricity was about 0.5. The SS began to decline above 0.5 due to the changes in ferroelectric charge, inner gate voltage, and average surface potential for the outer gate voltage.

This review addresses the development trends of dielectric ceramics, the key material for Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCCs), which are essential components in high-performance electronic devices. Traditional MLCCs have employed BaTiO₃ (BT)-based dielectrics to achieve high dielectric constant and low resistance. By minimizing oxygen vacancies and suppressing grain growth in BT materials, the temperature and voltage stability of MLCCs have been improved, leading to the development of MLCCs with diverse properties. However, the maximum dielectric constant of approximately 3000 in BT materials poses a limitation in overcoming the trade-off between rated voltage and capacitance density. Therefore, ultra-high permittivity dielectric materials have gained attention to meet the requirements of ultra-high-performance MLCCs, and ongoing research focuses on enhancing the temperature and frequency stability of these materials. This review analyzes the characteristics and limitations of conventional BT materials and explores recent research trends and future potential in developing new MLCCs based on ultra-high dielectric constant materials.

Piezoelectricity refers to the phenomenon where mechanical stress is converted into electrical signals or, conversely, electrical signals are converted into mechanical stress. Ferroelectric materials, characterized by high dielectric permittivity and spontaneous polarization, retain their polarization even after the removal of an electric field. In such materials, poling plays a crucial role in enhancing the piezoelectric effect, with the process of aligning dipoles being known as poling. This review focuses on studies that have compared and analyzed the enhancement of piezoelectric properties in ceramics and polymers through two representative poling methods: AC poling (ACP) and DC poling (DCP). Even within the same category of ceramics or polymers, variations in piezoelectric properties are observed based on the material type, poling method, and poling conditions. Under certain conditions, ACP has been shown to provide superior poling effects compared to DCP. Through this review, we propose that ACP has the potential not only to replace the traditionally used DCP in the poling of piezoelectric materials but also to serve as a more effective method. This could spark increased interest in the study of poling methods for piezoelectric polymers, a field that has received relatively less attention.

(Bi_1/2Na_1/2)TiO₃(BNT) piezoelectric ceramics are one of the promising materials that can replace Pb(Zr, Ti)O₃(PZT) piezoelectric ceramics due to the high electromechanical strain properties. However, it is still difficult to use practical applications because the required electric field for inducing electromechanical strain is relatively higher than that of PZT ceramics. To overcome this problem, it has been intensively studied on doping impurity or modifying other ABO₃ for BNTbased piezoelectric ceramics. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of La₂O₃ doping on the phase transition behavior and electromechanical strain properties in BNT-SrTiO₃ (BNT-ST) lead-free piezoelectric ceramics. In the case of the temperaturedependent dielectric properties, it was confirmed that a phase transition from ferroelectrics to relaxors is induced with increasing La₂O₃ content. As a result, the electromechanical strain properties of BNT-ST ceramics were improved. The highest Smax/Emax value corresponding to 300 pm/V was obtained at 2 mol% La₂O₃-dopped BNT-ST ceramics. Accordingly, this study successfully demonstrated that La₂O₃ doping is effective on the inducing phase transition from ferroelectrics to relaxors and the improving electromechanical strain properties of BNT-ST lead-free piezoelectric ceramics.

The measurement of strain under an electric field has been widely employed to comprehend the fundamental principles of electro-mechanical responses in ferroelectric, piezoelectric, and electrostrictive materials. In particular, understanding the strain properties of piezoelectric materials in response to electrical stimulation is crucial for researching and developing components such as piezoelectric actuators, acoustic devices, and ultrasonic generators. This tutorial paper introduces the components and operational principles of the linear variable differential transducer (LVDT), a widely used displacement measurement device in various industries. Additionally, we present the configuration of an experimental setup using LVDT to measure the strain characteristics of ferroelectric, piezoelectric, or electrostrictive materials under the application of an electric field. This paper includes simple measurement results and analyses obtained through the LVDT experimental setup, providing valuable information on research methods for the electro-mechanical interactions of various materials.

The changes in threshold voltage and DIBL were investigated for changes in remanent polarization P_r and coercive field E_c, which determine the characteristics of the P-E hysteresis curve of ferroelectric in NCFET (negative capacitance FET). The threshold voltage and DIBL (drain-induced barrier lowering) were observed for a junctionless double gate MOSFET using a gate oxide structure of MFMIS (metal-ferroelectric-metal-insulator-semiconductor). To obtain the threshold voltage, seriestype potential distribution and second derivative method were used. As a result, it can be seen that the threshold voltage increases when P_r decreases and E_c increases, and the threshold voltage is also maintained constant when the P_r/E_c is constant. However, as the drain voltage increases, the threshold voltage changes significantly according to P_r/E_c, so the DIBL greatly changes for P_r/E_c. In other words, when P_r/E_c=15 pF/cm, DIBL showed a negative value regardless of the channel length under the conditions of ferroelectric thickness of 10 nm and SiO₂ thickness of 1 nm. The DIBL value was in the negative or positive range for the channel length when the P_r/E_c is 25 pF/cm or more under the same conditions, so the condition of DIBL=0 could be obtained. As such, the optimal condition to reduce short channel effects can be obtained since the threshold voltage and DIBL can be adjusted according to the device dimension of NCFET and the P_r and E_c of ferroelectric.

An analytical threshold voltage model is presented to observe the change in threshold voltage shift ΔV_th of a junctionless double gate MOSFET using ferroelectric-metal-SiO₂ as a gate oxide film. The negative capacitance transistors using ferroelectric have the characteristics of increasing on-current and lowering off-current. The change in the threshold voltage of the transistor affects the power dissipation. Therefore, the change in the threshold voltage as a function of theferroelectric thickness is analyzed. The presented threshold voltage model is in a good agreement with the results of TCAD. As a results of our analysis using this analytical threshold voltage model, the change in the threshold voltage with respect to the change in the ferroelectric thickness showed that the threshold voltage increased with the increase of the absolute value of charges in the employed ferroelectric. This suggests that it is possible to obtain an optimum ferroelectric thickness at which the threshold voltage shift becomes 0 V by the voltage across the ferroelectric even when the channel length is reduced. It was also found that the ferroelectric thickness increased as the silicon thickness increased when the channel length was less than 30 nm, but the ferroelectric thickness decreased as the silicon thickness increased when the channel length was 30 nm or more in order to satisfy ΔV_th=0.

The ferroelectricity in Hf_0.5Zr_0.5O₂ (HZO) thin films is one of the most interesting topics for next-generation nonvolatile memory applications. It is known that a crystallization process is required at a temperature of 400℃ or higher to form an orthorhombic phase that results in the ferroelectric properties of the HZO film. However, to realize the integration of ferroelectric HZO films in the back-end-of-line, it is necessary to reduce the annealing temperature below 400℃. This study aims to comprehensively analyze the ferroelectric properties according to the annealing temperature (350-500℃) and time (1-5 h) using a furnace as a crystallization method for HZO films. As a result, the ferroelectric behaviors of the HZO films were achieved at a temperature of 400℃ or higher regardless of the annealing time. At the annealing temperature of 350℃, the ferroelectric properties appeared only when the annealing time was sufficiently increased (4 h or more). Based on these results, it was experimentally confirmed that the optimization of the annealing temperature and time is very important for the ferroelectric phase crystallization of HZO films and the improvement of their ferroelectric properties.

Morphotropic phase boundary (MPB), which is a special boundary that separates two or multiple different phases in the phase diagram of some ferroelectric ceramics, is an important concept in identifying physics that includes piezoelectric responses. MPB, which had not been discovered in organic materials until recently, was discovered in poly(vinylidene fluoride-co- trifluoroethylene (P(VDF-TrFE)), resulting from a molecular approach. The piezoelectric coefficient of P(VDF-TrFE) in this MPB region was achieved up to -63.5 pC N^-1, which is about two times as large as the conventional value of -30 pC N^-1 of P(VDF-TrFE). An order-disorder arrangement greatly affects the rise of the piezoelectric effect and the ferroelectric, paraelectric and relaxor ferroelectric of P(VDF-TrFE), so the arrangement and shape of the polymer chain is important. In this review, we investigate the origin of negative longitudinal piezoelectric coefficients of piezoelectric polymers, which is definitely opposite to those of common piezoelectric ceramics. In addition to the mainly discussed issue about MPB behaviors of ferroelectric polymers, we also introduce the consideration about polymer chirality resulting in relaxor ferroelectric properties. When the physics of ferroelectric polymers is unveiled, we can improve the piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties of ferroelectric polymers and contribute to the development of next-generation sensor, energy, transducer and actuator applications.

In functional materials, in situ experimental techniques as a function of external stimulus (e.g., electric field, magnetic field, light, etc.) or changes in ambient environments (e.g., temperature, humidity, pressure, etc.) are highly essential for analyzing how the physical properties of target materials are activated/evolved by the given stimulation. In particular, in situ electric-field-dependent X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements have been extensively utilized for understanding the underlying mechanisms of the emerging electromechanical responses to external electric field in various ferroelectric, piezoelectric, and electrostrictive materials. This tutorial article briefly introduces basic principles/key concepts of in situ electric-field-dependent XRD analysis using a lab-scale XRD machine. We anticipate that the in situ XRD method provides a practical tool to systematically identify/monitor a structural modification of various electromechanical materials driven by applying an external electric field.

We investigated the microstructure, crystal structure, dielectric, and elecromechanical strain properties of lead-free BaTiO₃ (BT)-modified (Bi_1/2Na_1/2)TiO₃-SrTiO₃ (BNT-ST) piezoelectric ceramics. Samples were prepared by a conventional ceramic processing route. Temperature dependent dielectric properties confirmed that a phase transition from a nonergodic relaxor to an ergodic relaxor was induced when the BT concentration reached 1.5 mol%, interestingly, where the average grain size reached a maximum value of 4.5 μm. At the same time, enhanced electromechanical strain (S_max/E_max = 600 pm/V) was obtained. It is suggested that the induced ferroelectric-relaxor phase transition by the BT modification is responsible for the enhancement of electromechanical strain in 1.5 mol% BT-modified BNT-ST ceramics.

Bulk-sized PbTiO₃ (PT), which is widely known as a high-performance ferroelectric oxide but cannot be fabricated into a monolithic ceramic due to its high c/a ratio, was successfully prepared with a high tetragonality by partially substituting Ni ions for Pb ions using a solid-state reaction method. We found that Ni-doped PT was well-fabricated as a bulk monolith with a significant c/a ratio of ~1.06. X-ray diffraction on as-sintered and crushed samples revealed that NiTiO₃ secondary phase was present at the doping level of more than 2 at.%. Scanning electron microscopic study showed that NiTiO₃ secondary phase grew on the surface of PT specimens regardless of the doping level possibly due to the evaporation of Pb during sintering. We demonstrated that an unconventional introduction of Ni ions into A-site plays a key role on the fabrication of bulk PT, though how Ni ion functions should be studied further. We expect that this study contributes to a further development of displacive ferroelectric oxides with a high c/a ratio.

We investigated the origin of magnetic behaviors induced by an asymmetric spin exchange interaction in Fe-site engineered lead iron niobate [Pb(Fe_1/2Nb_1/2)O₃, PFN], which exhibits a room-temperature multiferroicity. The magnitude of spin exchange interaction was regulated by the introduced transition metals with a distinct Bohr magneton, i.e., Cr, Co, and Ni. All compositions were found to have a single-phase perovskite structure keeping their ferroelectric order except for Cr introduction. We discovered that the incorporation of each transition metal imposes a distinct magnetic behavior on the lead iron niobate system; antiferro-, hard ferro-, and soft ferromagnetism for Cr, Co, and Ni, respectively. This indicates that orbital occupancy and interatomic distance play key roles in the determination of magnetic behavior rather than the magnitude of the individual Bohr magneton. Further investigations are planned, such as X-ray absorption spectroscopy, to clarify the origin of magnetic properties in this system.

With the recent increase in demand for electronic devices, multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) have become the most important core component. In particular, the next-generation MLCC with extremely high reliability is required for the 4th industrial revolution and electric vehicle applications. Therefore, it is necessary to develop dielectric ceramic materials with high dielectric properties and reliability. During the decades, electrical properties of BaTiO₃ based dielectric ceramics, which have been widely used in MLCC industrial field, have been improved by microstructure and defect chemistry control. However, electrical properties of BaTiO₃ have reached their limits, and new types of dielectric materials have been widely studied. Based on these backgrounds, this report presents the recent development trends of BaTiO₃-based dielectric materials for the nextgeneration MLCCs, and suggests promising candidates to replace BaTiO₃ ceramics.

This study investigated microstructures, crystal structures, polarization, dielectric and electromechanical properties of 0.76Bi_1/2Na_1/2TiO₃-0.24SrTiO₃ (BNT-24ST)-based piezoceramcs by adding Li₂CO₃ and B₂O₃ (LB) as sintering aids for low-temperature sintering. All samples were successfully synthesized using conventional solid-state reaction method and sintered at 950, 1,000, 1,050, 1,100 and 1,175℃ for 2 hours. Without LB, specimens required sintering temperatures over 1,175℃ for sufficient densification, while the addition of 0.10-mol LB decreased the sintering temperatures down to 950℃. The average grain size and dielectric properties of BNT-24ST-10LB ceramics were enhanced with increasing sintering temperature. We found that the low-temperature sintered BNT-24ST piezoceramics by adding LB showed the d₃₃*value of 402 pm/V at 4 kV/mm after sintering at 1,050℃, which was better than that of high-temperature fired specimens sintered at 1,175℃ without LB (242 pm/V). We believe that the results of this study promise a candidate for low-cost multilayer ceramic actuator applications.

Two-dimensional materials have shown a great promise for the next-generation electronic materials due to their unique optical, physical, and chemical properties that are distinct from their bulk counterparts. Their atomic-level thickness, the feature for flexible tenability, and exposed huge surface allow various approaches for high-performance nanoscale devices. Especially, this review highlights the recent progress on two-dimensional dielectric nanosheets, which are obtained by cheap and mass-producible solution-based exfoliation process, accompanied by the preparation methods, various deposition methods, and the characteristics of devices using a dielectric nanosheet thin films. We also present a perspective on the advantages offered by this two-dimensional dielectric nanosheets for the upcoming future nanoelectonics.

In this work, the (K_1-xAg_x)(Ta_0.8Nb_0.2)O₃ (x=0.1-0.4) ceramics were fabricated using mixed-oxide method, and their structural and electrical properties were measured. All specimens represented a pseudo cubic structure with the lattice constant of 0.3989 nm. When 0.4 mol of Ag was added, second phases induced from metallic Ag and K₂(Ta,Nb)₆O₁₆ phase were observed. Dielectric constant and dielectric loss of K(Ta_0.8Nb_0.2)O₃ specimen doped with 0.3 mol of Ag were 2,737 and 0.446, respectively. The curie temperature was about -5℃, which does not change with Ag addition. The remanent polarization began to decrease sharply around 12~15℃, and the temperature at which the remanent polarization began to decrease as the applied voltage increased shifted to the high temperature side. The electrocaloric effect (ΔT) and electrocaloric efficiency (ΔT/ΔE) of the (K_0.7Ag_0.3)(Ta_0.8Nb_0.2)O₃ ceramics were 0.01024℃ and 0.01825 KmV^-1, respectively.

Theoretical background for the meaning of various piezoelectric properties can be easily found in a number of textbooks and academic papers. In contrast, how they are actually measured and characterized are rarely described, though this information would be the most important especially to the researchers who just started working on the field. It follows that this report was intended to provide a practical guidance for measuring basic but essential properties of ferroelectric-based piezoelectric materials. The discussion begins with how to measurement dielectric properties such as dielectric permittivity and loss (dissipation factor), followed by piezoelectric properties such as piezoelectric constants, electromechanical coupling factor, and quality factor as well as ferroelectric features, i.e., electric field dependent polarization hysteresis. Though our discussion here is limited to the techniques that are already well-standardized, it is expected to make a seed to be developed into more challenging and creative ones.

Multiferroics exhibiting the coexistence and a possible coupling of ferromagnetic and ferroelectric order are attracting widespread interest in terms of academic interests and possible applications. However, room-temperature single-phase multiferroics with soft ferromagnetic and displacive ferroelectric properties are still rare owing to the contradiction in the origin of ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity. In this study, we demonstrated that sizable ferromagnetic properties are induced in the ferroelectric bismuth ferrite-barium titanate system simply by introducing Co ions into the A-site. It is noted that all modified compositions exhibit well-saturated magnetic hysteresis loops at room temperature. Especially, 70Bi_0.95Co_0.05FeO₃-30Ba_0.95Co_0.05TiO₃ manifests noticeable ferroelectric and ferromagnetic properties; the spontaneous polarization and the saturation magnetization are 42 μC/㎠ and 3.6 emu/g, respectively. We expect that our methodology will be widely used in the development of perovskite-structured multiferroic oxides.

Magnetoelectric multiferroics, where a ferromagnetic and a ferroelectric order coexist and are coupled in a single phase, have been a hot topic in condensed matter physics for a long time owing to their ability to facilitate nextgeneration applications. In this review, we briefly introduce basic concept of the magnetoelectric multiferroic oxides as well as their history, physical origins, and significant achievements. The key moments contributing to the progress of magnetoelectric multiferroics are snapshotted chronologically, and then a discussion on the major magnetic exchange interactions and the ferroelectric origins are presented along with their coupling behavior. Furthermore, we argue a need for modifying the present classification of magnetoelectric multiferroics before presenting the evolution of multiferroics using representative examples with their properties such as magnetic/ferroelectric transition temperature, magnetization/electric polarization, and magnetoelectric coefficient. We hope that this brief review will provide the community researchers with insights into magnetoelectric multiferroic oxides.

This study investigated the structural, dielectric, ferroelectric, and strain properties of (0.98-x)Bi_1/2Na_1/2TiO₃- 0.02BiFeO_3-xSrTiO₃ (BNT-BF-100xST, x＝0.20, 0.22, 0.24, 0.26, and 0.28). All samples were successfully synthesized using the conventional solid-state reaction method and sintered at 1,175℃ for 2 h. The average grain size of the BNT-BF-100x ceramics decreased with increasing ST content. Furthermore, we observed that the ferroelectric- relaxor transition temperature (T_F-R) decreased with increasing ST content, which eventually vanished in the BNT-BF-24ST ceramics. The results indicated that a ferroelectric to relaxor phase transition could be induced by ST modification. Consequently, a large electromechanical strain of 633 pm/V at 4 kV/mm was observed for the BNT-BF-26ST ceramics. These results imply that our materials have the competitive advantage of larger strain under lower operating field conditions compared with other BNT-based lead-free piezoelectric ceramics. We expect that BNT-BF-ST lead-free piezoelectric ceramics are promising candidates as a novel ternary BNT-based system and can find potential applications in actuators.

To enhance the tunneling electroresistance (TER) ratio of a ferroelectric tunnel junction (FTJ) device using Al-doped HfO₂ thin films, a thin insulating layer was prepared on a TiN bottom electrode, for which TiN was preliminarily treated at various temperatures in O₂ ambient. The composition and thickness of the inserted insulating layer were optimized at 600℃ and 50 Torr, and the FTJ showed a high TER ratio of 430. During the heat treatments, a titanium oxide layer formed on the surface of TiN, that suppressed oxygen vacancy generation in the ferroelectric thin film. It was found that the fabricated FTJ device exhibits two distinct resistance states with higher tunneling currents by properly heat-treating the TiN bottom electrode of the HfO₂-based FTJ devices in O₂ ambient.

P(VDF-TrFE-CFE) (Poly (vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene-chlorofluoroethylene)), which exhibits a high electrostriction of about 7%, can transmit tactile output as vibration or displacement. In this study, we investigated the applicability of P(VDF-TrFE-CFE) to wearable piezoelectric actuators. The P(VDF-TrFE-CFE) layers were deposited through spin-coating, and interspaced with patterned Ag electrodes to fabricate a two-layer 3.5 mm × 3.5 mm device. This layered structure was designed and fabricated to increase the output and displacement of the actuator at low driving voltages. In addition, a laser vibrometer and piezoelectric force microscope were used to analyze the device’s vibration characteristics over the range of ~200~4,200 Hz. The on-off characteristics were confirmed at a frequency of 40 Hz.

Ferroelectric material properties are strongly governed by domain structures and their evolution processes, but the evolution processes of complex domain patterns during a macroscopic electrical poling process are still elusive. In the present work, domain-evolution processes in a PZT ceramic near the morphotropic phase-boundary composition were studied during a step-wise electrical poling using piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). Electron backscatter diffraction was used with the PFM data to identify the grain boundaries in the region of interest. In response to an externally the applied electric field, growth and retreat of non-180° domain boundaries wasere observed. The results indicate that ferroelectric polarization-switching nucleates and evolves in concordance with the pattern of the pre-existing domains.

Ferroelectric properties are governed by domain structures and domain wall motions, so it is of significance to understand domain evolution processes under mechanical stress. In the present study, in situ piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) observation under compressive stress was carried out for a near-morphotropic PZT. Both 180° and non-180° domain structures were observed from PFM images, and their habit planes were identified using electron backscatter diffraction in conjunction with PFM data. By externally applied mechanical stress, needle-like non-180° domain patterns were broadened via domain wall motions. This was interpreted via phenomenological approach such that the total energy minimization can be achieved by domain wall motion rather than domain nucleation mainly due to the local gradient energy. Meanwhile, no motion was observed from curvy 180° domain walls under the mechanical stress, validating that 180° domain walls are not directly influenced by mechanical stress.

(1-x)Bi_0.5(Na_0.78K_0.22)_0.5TiO₃-xLaFeO₃ ceramics were fabricated using a solid state reaction method. The microstructural, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and polarization hysteresis loops (P-E). XRD results indicated that BNKT ceramic crystal structure modified by LaFeO₃ was transformed from a ferroelectric tetragonal to a non-polar pesudo-cubic phase with increased LaFeO₃ content. The improved piezoelectric properties resulted from the addition of LaFeO₃ up to 3 mol%. The LaFeO₃ 3mol% sample showed markedly improved piezoelectric and strain behaviors in comparison with pure BNKT ceramic.

The power conversion efficiency of organic polymer solar cells was enhanced by introducing a ferroelectric polymer layer at the interface between active layer and metal electrode. The power conversion efficiency was increased by 50% through the enhancement of the open circuit voltage. To investigate the role of the ferroelectric layer on the dissociation process of the excitons, non-radiative portion of the exciton decay was directly measured by using photoacoustic technique. The results show that the ferroelectric nature of the buffer layer does not play any roles on the dissociation process of the excitons, which indicates the efficiency enhancement is not due to the ferroelectricity of the buffer layer.