Ferroelectricity

It is a property of certain materials in which they possess a spontaneous electric polarization that can be reversed by the application of an external electric field. The term is used in analogy to ferromagnetism, in which a material exhibits a permanent magnetic moment. Ferromagnetism was already known when ferroelectricity was discovered in 1920 in Rochelle salt by Valasek. Thus, the prefix ferro, meaning iron, was used to describe the property despite the fact that most ferroelectric materials do not contain iron.

Polarization Types

Most materials are polarized linearly by an external electric field; nonlinearities are insignificant. This is called dielectric polarization (see figure). Some materials, known as paraelectric materials, demonstrate a more pronounced nonlinear polarization (see figure). The electric permittivity, corresponding to the slope of the polarization curve, is thereby a function of the external electric field. In addition to being nonlinear, ferroelectric materials demonstrate a spontaneous (zero field) polarization (see figure). Such materials are generally called pyroelectrics. The distinguishing feature of ferroelectrics is that the direction of the spontaneous polarization can be reversed by an applied electric field, yielding a hysteresis loop.

Typically, materials demonstrate ferroelectricity only below a certain phase transition temperature, called the Curie temperature, Tc, and are paraelectric above this temperature.

Applications

The nonlinear nature of ferroelectric materials can be used to make capacitors with tunable capacitance. Typically, a ferroelectric capacitor simply consists of a pair of electrodes sandwiching a layer of ferroelectric material. The permittivity of ferroelectrics is not only tunable but commonly also very high in absolute value, especially when close to the phase transition temperature. Because of this, ferroelectric capacitors are small in physical size compared to dielectric (non-tunable) capacitors of similar capacitance.

The spontaneous polarization of ferroelectric materials implies a hysteresis effect which can be used as a memory function, and ferroelectric capacitors are indeed used to make ferroelectric RAM for computers and RFID cards. In these applications thin films of ferroelectric materials are typically used, as this allows the field required to switch the polarization to be achieved with a moderate voltage. However, when using thin films a great deal of attention needs to be paid to the interfaces, electrodes and sample quality for devices to work reliably.

Ferroelectric materials are required by symmetry considerations to be also piezoelectric and pyroelectric. The combined properties of memory, piezoelectricity, and pyroelectricity make ferroelectric capacitors very useful, e.g. for 

• sensor applications. 
• Ferroelectric capacitors are used in medical ultrasound machines (the capacitors generate and then listen for the ultrasound ping used to image the internal organs of a body).
•  high quality infrared cameras (the infrared image is projected onto a two dimensional array of ferroelectric capacitors capable of detecting temperature differences as small as millionths of a degree Celsius). 
• fire sensors. 
• vibration sensors.
• fuel injectors on diesel engines.
• Another idea of recent interest is the ferroelectric tunnel junction (FTJ) in which a contact made up by nanometer-thick ferroelectric film placed between metal electrodes. The thickness of the ferroelectric layer is thin enough to allow tunneling of electrons. The piezoelectric and interface effects as well as the depolarization field may lead to a giant electroresistance (GER) switching effect.

Yet another hot topic is multiferroics, where researchers are looking for ways to couple magnetic and ferroelectric ordering within a material or heterostructure; there are several recent reviews on this topic.

source:
wikipedia