International
Tables for Crystallography Volume D Physical properties of crystals Edited by A. Authier © International Union of Crystallography 2006 |
International Tables for Crystallography (2006). Vol. D. ch. 1.6, pp. 150-151
Section 1.6.2.1. Spontaneous polarization
a
Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Roads, Oxford OX1 3PU, England, and bDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Parks Roads, Oxford OX1 3PR, England |
A spontaneous polarization of a crystal can be created in some polar crystals after a strong static electric field is first applied and then removed. Subsequent application of an electric field in the opposite direction can then reverse the sense of the spontaneous polarization. By analogy with the well known similar phenomenon of ferromagnetism, such crystals are known as ferroelectrics (Jona & Shirane, 1962; Lines & Glass, 1979). This effect is therefore not an optical effect, but is included here for the sake of completeness. For a crystal to be a ferroelectric, it cannot have a centre of symmetry.
References
Jona, F. & Shirane, G. (1962). Ferroelectric crystals. Oxford: Pergamon.Google ScholarLines, M. E. & Glass, A. M. (1979). Principles and applications of ferroelectrics and related materials. Oxford: Clarendon.Google Scholar