Ferro-and antiferroelectric materials and related compounds: from fundamentals to applications

The symposium aims to present the challenging theoretical and experimental methods in ferroics and related compounds research. Nowadays, advanced investigations of phase transitions, structural and local disorder, properties of domains, domain boundaries and topological defects need a broad discussion and exchange of experiences.

Scope:

Beyond their spontaneous and switchable electric polarisation, ferroelectric compounds typically show unusually large functional properties like dielectric, piezoelectric, electrocaloric, magnetoelectric and electrooptic, to mention but a few, which explains that they have been a continuous topic of intense research for many decades. At present, ferroics have a wide range of applications, including medicine, the automotive industry, electronics, the construction of advanced research apparatus, sports, energy and space technologies. Far from declining, the interest in these compounds is still growing thanks to recent discoveries of, e.g., hafnia, 2D ferroelectrics or wurtzite ferroelectrics and new local properties of antiferroelectrics. Related to them, among many others, are the electrocaloric effect, bulk photovoltaic effect, energy storage in antiferroelectrics, presence and role of the water on ferroelectric surfaces (water spitting) and catalysis at ferroelectric surfaces, which have recently been intensively explored.

At the experimental level, recurrent materials-processing advances enable nearly-atomic control in epitaxial films, heterostructures, and free-standing membranes. Moreover, local-probe techniques give access to nanoscale visualisation and characterisation of these materials. At the theoretical level, combining first-principles, second-principles, and phase field methods allows for bridging length scales. It is emerging as a trustworthy and predictive multi-scale platform to guide experimentalists and rationalise their findings.

During the last year, domain walls have been revealed to be individual functional entities of specific interest, and very recently, a plethora of inhomogeneous topological polar textures have been reported in ferroelectrics and related compounds, opening a totally new field of investigations and paving the way to new functionalities.

This symposium aims to gather the ferroelectric community, present the most recent advances in the field, and envision how these can help face timely energy and environmental challenges.

Hot topics to be covered by the symposium:

• Structural phase transitions and critical phenomena
• Local structure and disorder
• Magnetoelectric and multiferroic materials
• Topological structures, domain boundary engineering
• Interfacial properties
• Thin films and heterostructures
• First-principles simulations
• Second-principles and multiscale simulations
• Caloric effects
• Ferroelasticity
• Flexoelectricity
• Ferroelectrics and antiferroelectrics
• Relaxors
• Piezotronics and photo-piezotronics
• Light-induced phenomena
• Defects in ferroics and multiferroics
• Electronic structure and optical properties
• Piezoelectrics and lead-free piezoelectrics
• Photovoltaic perovskites

Scientists who have already agreed to deliver a lecture:

• H. Aramberri – Luxembourg Institute of Sciences and Technology, Luxembourg
• A. Barbier – CEA Saclay, France
• A. Bussmann-Holder – Max-Planck Institute, Stuttgart, Germany 
• A. Cano - CNRS and Université Grenoble Alpes, France
• G. Catalan – ICN2, Barcelona, Spain 
• M. Gregg – Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland   
• J. Hlinka – Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic 
• J. Junquera – University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain 
• S. Kamba – Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic   
• D. Meier – U. Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany  
• A. Rappe – University of Pennsylvania, USA  
• W. Schranz – University of Wien, Austria 
• N. Spaldin – École Polytechnique Fédérale, Zürich, Switzerland 
• K. Szot – University of Silesia, Poland 
• H. Yokota – Chiba University, Japan 
• N. Zhang – Xi'an Jiaotong University, China