Ferroelectrics: past, present and future

Abstract

In this paper, the development in the field of ferroelectrics is reviewed by summarizing the topics in the field as presented at the International and European conferences on Ferroelectrics. While from the very beginning in 1966 until now fundamentals in ferroelectrics always played a significant role, it is shown that the topics considerably broadened over the years and are nowadays barely overlooked. Polarity dominated the field from the beginning; however, now its combination with more exotic properties like skyrmions, magnetism, functional domain walls has entered the stage and substantially enlarge the field of applications.