Ferroelectricity traditionally is believed to only occur in compounds. However, in the past decade, some theoretical works suggested that ferroelectricity is possible in certain elementary substances. Now researchers in China and Singapore experimentally confirmed ferroelectricity in monolayer α-phase bismuth.
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Small scale, big discoveries: Reducing thickness of antiferroelectric films turns them ferroelectric
While size effects in ferroelectric materials have been extensively studied, there are far fewer studies on how structure and properties evolve in antiferroelectric materials with reduced dimensions. In a recent open-access paper, researchers report the surprising discovery that below a certain thickness, antiferroelectric films will become completely ferroelectric.
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The 11th annual Electronic Materials and Applications Conference (EMA 2020) took place in Orlando on Jan. 22–24, 2020. Ferroelectricity was a big topic of discussion this year, in addition to various properties of complex oxides.
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Hafnium oxide-based ferroelectrics are promising materials for nonvolatile memory devices, as they are compatible with modern semiconductor technologies. Researchers led by the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology came up with a unique method to better characterize these materials.
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The January/February 2020 issue of the ACerS Bulletin—featuring the history and industry impact of ferroelectric materials—is now available online. Plus—NSF CAREER Ceramics Program decadal overview.
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Carbon nanotubes could give the world better batteries, 3-D printed supercapacitor electrode breaks records, and other materials stories that may be of interest for October 31, 2018.
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Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory in collaboration with researchers at Northwestern University have discovered that some organic ferroelectric materials are composed of crystal planes that atomically slide past one another, providing them with flexibility.
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Transition point in semiconductor nanomaterials, super cement’s secret, and other materials stories that may be of interest for September 7, 2016.
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A team of scientists at Northwestern University has discovered that some ferroelectric materials are hiding a surprise. Layered perovskites don’t conform to conventional wisdom—instead, these materials completely turn off polarization if enough strain is applied to them.
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Scaling up 2-D sheets of molybdenum telluride, ferroelectricity in thin sheets of strontium titanate, and other materials stories that may be of interest for September 30, 2015.
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