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Thin-film ferroelectric materials and their applications

Nature Reviews Materials volume 2, Article number: 16087 (2017) Cite this article

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Abstract

Ferroelectric materials, because of their robust spontaneous electrical polarization, are widely used in various applications. Recent advances in modelling, synthesis and characterization techniques are spurring unprecedented advances in the study of these materials. In this Review, we focus on thin-film ferroelectric materials and, in particular, on the possibility of controlling their properties through the application of strain engineering in conventional and unconventional ways. We explore how the study of ferroelectric materials has expanded our understanding of fundamental effects, enabled the discovery of novel phases and physics, and allowed unprecedented control of materials properties. We discuss several exciting possibilities for the development of new devices, including those in electronic, thermal and photovoltaic applications, and transduction sensors and actuators. We conclude with a brief survey of the different directions that the field may expand to over the coming years.

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Figure 1: Thin-film strain effects.
Figure 2: Examples of the application of unconventional strain.
Figure 3: Thermal properties of ferroelectric materials.
Figure 4: Potential of ferroelectric materials for applications.
Figure 5: Promising developments in ferroelectrics research

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Acknowledgements

L.W.M. acknowledges support from the Army Research Office under grant W911NF-14-1-0104, the US Department of Energy (DOE) under grant DE-SC0012375, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's EPiQS Initiative, under grant GBMF5307, the National Science Foundation under grants DMR-1124696, DMR-1149062 and ENG-1434147, and the Office of Naval Research under grant N00014-10-1-0525. A.M.R. acknowledges support from the DOE under grants DE-FG02-07ER46431 and DE-FG02-07ER15920, the National Science Foundation under grants DMR-1120901, CBET-1159736, NSF DMR-1124696 and CMMI-1334241, and the Office of Naval Research under grants N00014-11-1-0664, N00014-12-1-1033 and N00014-14-1-0761. A.M.R. and his group thank the High-Performance Computing Modernization Office of the Department of Defense and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing program. Both authors have benefited from collaborations within programs at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Pennsylvania, as well as other valued collaborators around the world.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 94720, California, USA

    Lane W. Martin

  2. Materials Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, 94720, California, USA

    Lane W. Martin

  3. Department of Chemistry, The Makineni Theoretical Laboratories, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 19104, USA

    Andrew M. Rappe

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Correspondence to Lane W. Martin.

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Martin, L., Rappe, A. Thin-film ferroelectric materials and their applications. Nat Rev Mater 2, 16087 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/natrevmats.2016.87

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