- Antiferroelectricity
Antiferroelectricity is a physical property of certain materials. It is closely related to
ferroelectricity ; the relation between antiferroelectricity and ferroelectricity is analogous to the relation betweenantiferromagnetism andferromagnetism .An antiferroelectric material consists of an ordered (
crystal line) array ofelectric dipole s (from the ions and electrons in the material), but with adjacent dipoles oriented in opposite (antiparallel) directions (the dipoles of each orientation form interpenetrating sublattices, loosely analogous to acheckerboard pattern). [ [http://www.iupac.org/goldbook/F02347.pdf IUPAC goldbook] ] [C. Kittel, "Theory of Antiferroelectric Crystals", Phys. Rev. 82, 729 - 732 (1951). [http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.82.729 DOI web-link] ] This can be contrasted with a ferroelectric, in which the dipoles all point in the same direction.In an antiferroelectric, unlike a ferroelectric, the total, macroscopic spontaneous polarization is zero, since the adjacent dipoles cancel each other out.
Antiferroelectricity is a phase of a material, and it can appear or disappear (more generally, strengthen or weaken) depending on temperature, pressure, external electric field, growth method, and other parameters. In particular, at a high enough temperature, antiferroelectricity disappears; this temperature is called the antiferroelectric
Curie point . [See, for example, C. Pulvari, "Ferrielectricity," Phys. Rev. 120, 1670-1673 (1960) [http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.120.1670 DOI web-link] ]Navbox
name = Polarization states
title=Polarization states
list1=dielectric –paraelectricity –ferroelectricity –antiferroelectricity References
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