John Heron and Zetian Mi edit new book: Emerging Ferroelectric Materials and Devices

John Heron and Zetian Mi are co-editors of the new book Emerging Ferroelectric Materials and Devices, which is part of the Semiconductors and Semimetals series published by Elsevier. Heron is an associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) and Mi is a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (ECE). Both are leading experts in the field.

“Many of us, before we were even born, have dealt with ferroelectricity because it is used very commonly in ultrasonics,” said Mi. “It has been known for over 100 years and, in the last several decades, has drawn lots of attention because this material has so many applications. For example, it has been widely used for energy storage in supercapacitors because of the very large dielectric constant. More recently, an exciting development is microelectronics in memory applications.”

Emerging Ferroelectric Materials and Devices covers the latest developments in traditional oxide ferroelectrics, as well as in emerging nitride ferroelectrics, which are well-suited for use in microelectronics due to their potentially high endurance, small size, and low power consumption. This next generation of ferroelectrics could be a game-changer for non-volatile memory, which allows the storage of information in the absence of constant electric power.

“The history of ferroelectricity is largely entrenched in oxide materials research, as ferroelectricity was most prevalent in these materials,” said Heron. “This book is an account of the recent history and progress in understanding of ferroelectricity in nitride materials from the pioneers in the field. It is both exciting and humbling to learn of their conceptualization and experiments performed to elucidate their fundamental behavior.”

Mi is most excited about the connections between conventional oxide ferroelectrics and emerging nitride ferroelectrics. 

“Although both materials show ferroelectricity and are fundamentally similar, the underlying mechanisms and limiting factors are actually very different,” he said. “What we learn from one material can inspire research into another.”

With contributed chapters coming from many of the world’s leading experts, students and researchers will be able to get a summary of some of the most exciting developments in the field.