Recent developments in the structure, properties, and applications of ferroelectric polymers

Abstract

Rapid progress is continuing to be made in the field of ferro-electric polymers. The last few years have seen detailed structural determinations of PVF2 and its copolymers, convincing evidence for Curie transitions, and development of theories that successfully predict the observed ferroelectric behavior. In the field of processing, manufacture of mm- thick polarized PVF2 sheet has been achieved, and a continuous method for simultaneous orientation and poling of PVF2 film and tube has been developed. New piezoelectric polymers have been under study, some of these showing ferroelectric hysteresis. Among applications, ultrasonic transducers in the form of hydrophones, sonar arrays, and focussed medical sensors are attracting wide current attention, while imaginative new uses for these polymers are under continuing investigation. © 1985 The Japan Society of Applied Physics.