BiFeO3 is perhaps the only material that is both magnetic and a strong ferroelectric at room temperature. As a result, it has had an impact on the field of multiferroics that is comparable to that of yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO) on superconductors, with hundreds of publications devoted to it in the past few years. In this Review, we try to summarize both the basic physics and unresolved aspects of BiFeO3 (which are still being discovered with several new phase transitions reported in the past few months) and device applications, which center on spintronics and memory devices that can be addressed both electrically and magnetically.

Physics and Applications of Bismuth Ferrite

Although known since the late 19th century, organic–inorganic perovskites have recently received extraordinary research community attention because of their unique physical properties, which make them promising candidates for application in photovoltaic (PV) and related optoelectronic devices. This review will explore beyond the current focus on three-dimensional (3-D) lead(II) halide perovskites, to highlight the great chemical flexibility and outstanding potential of the broader class of 3-D and lower dimensional organic-based perovskite family for electronic, optical, and energy-based applications as well as fundamental research. The concept of a multifunctional organic–inorganic hybrid, in which the organic and inorganic structural components provide intentional, unique, and hopefully synergistic features to the compound, represents an important contemporary target.

Organic–Inorganic Perovskites: Structural Versatility for Functional Materials Design

Multiferroic magnetoelectric composite systems such as ferromagnetic-ferroelectric heterostructures have recently attracted an ever-increasing interest and provoked a great number of research activities, driven by profound physics from coupling between ferroelectric and magnetic orders, as well as potential applications in novel multifunctional devices, such as sensors, transducers, memories, and spintronics. In this Review, we try to summarize what remarkable progress in multiferroic magnetoelectric composite systems has been achieved in most recent few years, with emphasis on thin films; and to describe unsolved issues and new device applications which can be controlled both electrically and magnetically.

Recent Progress in Multiferroic Magnetoelectric Composites: from Bulk to Thin Films

Modification of a ZnO cathode by doping it with a hydroxyl-containing derivative - giving a ZnO-C60 cathode - provides a fullerene-derivative-rich surface and enhanced electron conduction. Inverted polymer solar cells with the ZnO-C60 cathode display markedly improved power conversion efficiency compared to those with a pristine ZnO cathode, especially when the active layer includes the low-bandgap polymer PTB7-Th.

Fullerene Derivative‐Doped Zinc Oxide Nanofilm as the Cathode of Inverted Polymer Solar Cells with Low‐Bandgap Polymer (PTB7‐Th) for High Performance

Domains in ferroelectrics were considered to be well understood by the middle of the last century: They were generally rectilinear, and their walls were Ising-like. Their simplicity stood in stark contrast to the more complex Bloch walls or N\'eel walls in magnets. Only within the past decade and with the introduction of atomic-resolution studies via transmission electron microscopy, electron holography, and atomic force microscopy with polarization sensitivity has their real complexity been revealed. Additional phenomena appear in recent studies, especially of magnetoelectric materials, where functional properties inside domain walls are being directly measured. In this paper these studies are reviewed, focusing attention on ferroelectrics and multiferroics but making comparisons where possible with magnetic domains and domain walls. An important part of this review will concern device applications, with the spotlight on a new paradigm of ferroic devices where the domain walls, rather than the domains, are the active element. Here magnetic wall microelectronics is already in full swing, owing largely to the work of Cowburn and of Parkin and their colleagues. These devices exploit the high domain wall mobilities in magnets and their resulting high velocities, which can be supersonic, as shown by Kreines' and co-workers 30 years ago. By comparison, nanoelectronic devices employing ferroelectric domain walls often have slower domain wall speeds, but may exploit their smaller size as well as their different functional properties. These include domain wall conductivity (metallic or even superconducting in bulk insulating or semiconducting oxides) and the fact that domain walls can be ferromagnetic while the surrounding domains are not.

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Domain wall nanoelectronics

Isolation and characterization of pollen specific promoters from arabidopsis-thaliana

Ferri-magnetic order in Mn induced spinel Co3−xMnxO4 (0.1≤x≤1.0) ceramic compositions

The invention deals with multi-states nonvolatile opto-ferroelectric memory element and method of preparing the same thereof. This invention describes multi-states nonvolatile opto-ferroelectric memory element consisting of opto-ferroelectric memory material comprised of Pb 1-x (Bi 0.5 Li 0.5 ) x (Ti 1-y Zr y )O 3 , wherein x=0.2 to 0.8 and y=0.2 to 0.6, said memory material (PBLZT) photovoltaic ferroelectric material is characterized by a single-phase opto-ferroelectric materials, photovoltaic and multi-states ferroelectric memory material. The invention relates to process of preparing multi-states nonvolatile opto-ferroelectric memory material by solid route, solution-gel process and pulsed laser process. It describes development of multi-states nonvolatile opto-ferroelectric memory material at room temperature. Invention describes a ferroelectric material whose polarization is switched by white light and low power LASER (10-50 mW) with wavelength (405 nm).

Multi-states nonvolatile opto-ferroelectric memory material and process for preparing the same thereof

A number of ferroelectric thin films with various barium concentration and two sets of superlattices with different composition and number of constituent layers were investigated using X-ray diffraction. Out-of-plane unit cell parameters, values of microstrains, and sizes of coherent scattering regions were determined. Modulation period for superlattices was also calculated. We discuss the structural features of the samples.

A comparative X-ray diffraction study of ferroelectric thin films and superlattices

Piezoelectricity (PE) is defined as the polarization under homogeneous application of stress on polar/non-centrosymmetry/no-inversion symmetry dielectrics, whereas it has been commonly accepted that flexoelectricity (FLX) is the induced polarization due to strain gradient in any polar/nonpolar dielectrics, the latter effect is universal and can be generated in any materials under inhomogeneous stress. Flexoelectricity is inversely proportional to the size of materials and devices which further suggests that giant FLX effects may develop in nanoscale materials. Flexoelectricity represents the polarization due to strain gradient and have significant effects on the functional properties of nanoscale materials, epitaxial thin films, one-dimensional structure with various shape and size, liquid crystals, polymers, nanobio-hybrid materials, etc. Till late sixties, very few works on flexoelectricity have been reported due to very weak magnitude compared to piezoelectricity. Advancement in nanoscale materials and device fabrication process and highly sophisticated electronics with detection of data with high signal to noise ratio lead the scientists/researchers to get several orders of higher flexoelectric coefficients compared to the proposed theoretical limits. Recently, giant FLX have been observed in nanoscale materials and their magnitudes are six to seven orders larger than the theoretical limits. In this review article, we describe the basic mechanism of flexoelectricity, brief history of discovery, theoretical modeling, experimental procedures, and results reported by several authors for bulk and nanoscale ferroelectric and dielectric materials.

Ashok Kumar

Papers

Isolation and characterization of pollen specific promoters from arabidopsis-thaliana

Ferri-magnetic order in Mn induced spinel Co3−xMnxO4 (0.1≤x≤1.0) ceramic compositions

Multi-states nonvolatile opto-ferroelectric memory material and process for preparing the same thereof

A comparative X-ray diffraction study of ferroelectric thin films and superlattices

Flexoelectricity in Bulk and Nanoscale Polar and Non-Polar Dielectrics