This book presents selected topics on processing and properties of ferroelectric materials that are currently the focus of attention in scientific and technical research.

Ferro-piezoelectric ceramics are key materials in devices for many applications, such as automotive, healthcare and non-destructive testing. As they are polycrystalline, non-centrosymmetric materials, their piezoelectricity is induced by the so-called poling process. This is based on the principle of polarization reversal by the action of an electric field that characterizes the ferroelectric materials.

This book was born with the aim of increasing the awareness of the multifunctionality of ferroelectric materials among different communities, such as researchers, electronic engineers, end-users and manufacturers, working on and with ferro-piezoelectric ceramic materials and devices which are based on them.

The initiative to write this book comes from a well-establishedgroup of researchers at the Laboratories of Ferroelectric Materials, Materials Science Institute of Madrid (ICMM-CSIC). This group has been working in different areas concerning thin films and bulk ceramic materials since the mid-1980s. It is a partner of the Network of Excellence on Multifunctional and Integrated Piezoelectric Devices (MIND) of the EC, in which the European Institute of Piezoelectric Materials and Devices has its origin.

Inhalt
Introduction to multifunctional polycrystalline ferroelectric materials 1 - Advances in processing of bulk ferroelectric materials 2 - Processing of ferroelectric ceramic thick films 3 - Tailored liquid alkoxides for the chemical solution processing of Pb-free ferroelectric thin 4 - Ferroelectrics onto substrates prepared by Chemical Solution Deposition: from the thin film to the self-assembled nanosized structures 5 - Approaches towards the minimisation of toxicity in CSD processes of lead-based ferroelectric thin films 6 - Synchrotron radiation diffraction and scattering in ferroelectrics 7 - X-Ray absorption fine structure applied to ferrolectrics 8 - Quantitative texture analysis of polycrystalline ferroelectrics 9 - Nanoscale investigation of polycrystalline ferroelectric materials via piezoresponse force microscopy 10 - Mechanical properties of Ferro-Piezoceramics 11 - The elastic properties of ferroelectric thin films using nanoindentation 12 - Pyroelectricityin polycrystalline ferroelectrics 13 - Properties of ferro-piezoelectric ceramic materials in the linear range: determination from impedance measurements at resonance 14 - Domain engineered ceramic resonators 15 - Non-linear behaviour of piezoelectric ceramics 16 - Piezoelectric transducers for structural health monitoring: modelling and imaging