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Ferroelectrics and multiferroics are a class of materials that exhibit switching of their physical properties under an external influence. Ferroelectrics demonstrate a switchable electric polarization when an electric field is applied. Multiferroics exhibit a similar ‘ferroic’ behaviour in two or more of their (usually electric, magnetic or elastic) properties.
Laboratory measurements reveal that ice exhibits flexoelectricity — the generation of an electrical field upon bending. This flexoelectricity may be the microscopic mechanism for the mysterious charge separation that creates lightning in thunderstorms.
The authors propose a hierarchical defect engineering strategy for ferroelectric oxides to achieve full-spectrum optical absorption and boost broadband self-powered photodetection, realizing self-powered photodetection in the 250–5000 nm range with a responsivity of >1 mA/W.
The authors achieve a high electrocaloric effect in barium titanate ceramics with a defect dipole engineering strategy. As a result, defect dipole engineering enables BaTiO3 to achieve an electrocaloric effect over a wide temperature range.
The authors propose a design strategy of multiscale engineering to boost the polar entropy of BaTiO3-based system, by which the large and flexible polarization change can be offered synchronously, availing superior electrocaloric performance.
The authors observe robust ferroelectricity, characterized by a wake-up-free effect and endurance up to 1012 cycles, in monoclinic Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 single-crystalline films. This ferroelectric behavior originates from a polar monoclinic variant (space group Pc) stabilized by antiphase boundaries.
Previous approaches to enhance the weak piezoelectric coefficients in ferroelectric polymers depend on synthesis of desired composition and complex processing conditions with low scalability. Here the authors report large piezoelectric coefficient in scalable solution-processed ferroelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) copolymers by modifying C=C and C=O double bonds.
Laboratory measurements reveal that ice exhibits flexoelectricity — the generation of an electrical field upon bending. This flexoelectricity may be the microscopic mechanism for the mysterious charge separation that creates lightning in thunderstorms.
Mixed ceramics and thin films of well-known ferroelectric and antiferroelectric materials reveal dipolar skyrmions, providing a scalable platform to explore the properties and applications of non-collinear polarization textures.
Shear stress, induced by the tip of an atomic force microscope, stabilizes ferroelastic domain variants and thereby reversibly controls magnetic microstructure and magnetotransport behaviour in thin-film oxides.
Multislice electron ptychography reveals ferroelectric microstructures with sub-ångström lateral resolution and nanometre depth resolution, directly imaging a ferroelectricity generated by anion displacements relative to the Nb sublattice.
