 | This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. (September 2010) |
In physics and materials science, ferroelectricity is a characteristic of certain materials that have a spontaneous electric polarization that can be reversed by the application of an external electric field.[1][2] All ferroelectrics are also piezoelectric and pyroelectric, with the additional property that their natural electrical polarization is reversible. 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 American physicist Joseph Valasek.[3] Thus, the prefix ferro, meaning iron, was used to describe the property despite the fact that most ferroelectric materials do not contain iron. Materials that are both ferroelectric and ferromagnetic are known as multiferroics.
- ^ Werner Känzig (1957). "Ferroelectrics and Antiferroelectrics". In Frederick Seitz; T. P. Das; David Turnbull; E. L. Hahn (eds.). Solid State Physics. Vol. 4. Academic Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-12-607704-9.
- ^ M. Lines; A. Glass (1979). Principles and applications of ferroelectrics and related materials. Clarendon Press, Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-851286-8.
- ^ See J. Valasek (1920). "Piezoelectric and allied phenomena in Rochelle salt". Physical Review. 15 (6): 537. Bibcode:1920PhRv...15..505.. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.15.505. and J. Valasek (1921). "Piezo-Electric and Allied Phenomena in Rochelle Salt". Physical Review. 17 (4): 475. Bibcode:1921PhRv...17..475V. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.17.475. hdl:11299/179514.