Ferroelectric Materials: A Modern Perspective
Andrew M. Rappe
University of Pennsylvania

The ferroelectric effect is exhibited by any material which acquires a permanent electric dipole moment below a critical temperature. Recently, new ferroelectric materials have been developed with favorable properties for applications. Concurrently, long-standing fallacies in the theory of ferroelectrics have been addressed, leading to an elegant theory of polarization based on a Berry's phase formalism. This progress in theory and experiment has made ferroelectrics an exciting field of modern research. In this presentation, I will describe these recent developments, outline some successes in modeling novel ferroelectrics, and address prospects for future advances in this field.