Professor Trolier-McKinstry leads focus issue on the history of ferroelectrics in the American Ceramic Society Bulletin.

“Ferroelectric materials are ubiquitous in electrical and electromechanical components and systems. Ferroelectricity is associated with large dielectric and piezoelectric coefficients, particularly when the composition is adjusted to position the solid near a phase boundary. This characteristic allows high volumetric efficiency dielectric charge storage, as well as high displacement actuators at modest voltages.  The ability to reorient the spontaneous polarization between crystallographically defined states is essential in allowing poling of ceramic materials to obtain net piezoelectric or pyroelectric responses.” [Read more…]