Movers, shakers, and storers of charge: The legacy of ferroelectricians L. Eric Cross and Robert E. Newnham

Abstract

The last 100 years has seen the burgeoning of the field of ferroelectrics from a scientific curiosity to the basis of major industries in capacitors, piezoelectrics, and electro-optics. This paper will discuss the history of the field, with an emphasis on the contributions made by Professors Robert E. Newnham and L. Eric Cross of the Pennsylvania State University. Their scientific contributions encompassed many key areas in ferroelectrics, including phenomenology, structure determination, relaxor ferroelectrics, composite piezoelectrics, structure-property relations, and flexoelectricity. Scientific advances were often motivated by and closely coupled with application needs. Finally, their impact on global academic communities is discussed.composites, ferroelectricity/ferroelectric materials, piezoelectric materials/properties, relaxors

Crystal Structure, Phase Transitions and Photoferroelectric Properties of KNbO3-Based Lead-Free Ferroelectric Ceramics: A Brief Review

“…In comparison with BaTiO 3 , the absence of a low temperature orthorhombicto-rhombohedral structural phase transition was unexpected and prompted Pepinsky et al (1952) at The Pennsylvania State University to revisit the dielectric behavior of KN. In 1954, they published a comprehensive dielectric study (Shirane et al, 1954a) using KN crystals prepared by Robert Newnham, who would become one of the most notable ferroelectricitians (Trolier-McKinstry and Randall, 2017). On heating, they found a dielectric anomaly at −10 • C and two other dielectric anomalies at 220 and 420 • C, the latter in agreement with the previous work by Matthias and Remeika (1951).…”

Modulation in polymer properties in PVDF/BCZT composites with ceramic content and their energy density capabilities

“…However, the key innovation in piezoelectrics was the development of piezoelectric composites by Newnham and Cross. [ 66 ] Particularly, for the use of piezoelectrics in hydrophone applications the power figure of merit is d h g h = ; where ε 33 is the relative permittivity and, d 333 and d 311 are the piezoelectric coefficients of material. The ε 33 is quite large for most ceramics which lowers the value for d h g h .…”

“…However, the key innovation in piezoelectrics was the development of piezoelectric composites by Newnham and Cross. [66] Particularly, for the use of piezoelectrics in hydrophone applications the power figure of merit is…”

Large Electric‐Field‐Induced Strain Close to the Surface in Barium Titanate Studied by Atomic‐Scale In Situ Electron Microscopy

“…This method enables us to study the changes of lattice parameters and their spatial distribution in specified local regions in ferroelectrics, such as ferroelectric domain walls, film/substrate interfaces, and electrode/ferroelectric interfaces, which is an important benefit over in situ XRD. BaTiO 3 (BT) is a prototypical ferroelectric material whose crystal structure and ferroelectric properties have been studied for a long time [4,[28][29][30][31] . In particular, the dielectric and ferroelectric properties of BT have been widely studied, because BT is commonly used as a dielectric in multilayer ceramic capacitors and as a gate ferroelectric in ferroelectric randomaccess memory.…”