This book presents a comprehensive review of the most important methods used in the characterisation of piezoelectric, ferroelectric and pyroelectric materials. It covers techniques for the analysis of bulk materials and thick and thin film materials and devices. There is a growing demand by industry to adapt and integrate piezoelectric materials into ever smaller devices and structures. Such applications development requires the joint development of reliable, robust, accurate and – most importantly – relevant and applicable measurement and characterisation methods and models. In the past few years there has been a rapid development of new techniques to model and measure the variety of properties that are deemed important for applications development engineers and scientists. The book has been written by the leaders in the field and many chapters represent established measurement best practice, with a strong emphasis on application of the methods via worked examples and detailed experimental procedural descriptions. Each chapter contains numerous diagrams, images, and measurement data, all of which are fully referenced and indexed. The book is intended to occupy space in the research or technical lab, and will be a valuable and practical resource for students, materials scientists, engineers, and lab technicians.

This book presents recent advances in the field of nanoscale characterization of ferroelectric materials using scanning probe microscopy (SPM). It addresses various imaging mechanisms of ferroelectric domains in SPM, quantitative analysis of the piezoresponse signals as well as basic physics of ferroelectrics at the nanoscale level, such as nanoscale switching, scaling effects, and transport behavior. This state-of-the-art review of theory and experiments on nanoscale polarization phenomena will be a useful reference for advanced readers as well for newcomers and graduate students interested in the SPM techniques. The non-specialists will obtain valuable information about different approaches to electrical characterization by SPM, while researchers in the ferroelectric field will be provided with details of SPM-based measurements of ferroelectrics.

Ferroelectric field effect transistor (FeFET) memories based on a new type of ferroelectric material (silicon doped hafnium oxide) were studied within the scope of the present work. Utilisation of silicon doped hafnium oxide (Si:HfO2 thin films instead of conventional perovskite ferroelectrics as a functional layer in FeFETs provides compatibility to the CMOS process as well as improved device scalability. The influence of different process parameters on the properties of Si:HfO2 thin films was analysed in order to gain better insight into the occurrence of ferroelectricity in this system. A subsequent examination of the potential of this material as well as its possible limitations with the respect to the application in non-volatile memories followed. The Si:HfO2-based ferroelectric transistors that were fully integrated into the state-of-the-art high-k metal gate CMOS technology were studied in this work for the first time. The memory performance of these devices scaled down to 28 nm gate length was investigated. Special attention was paid to the charge trapping phenomenon shown to significantly affect the device behaviour.

Degradation is apparent in all things and is fundamental to both manufactured and natural objects. It is often described by the second law of thermodynamics, where entropy, a measure of disorder, tends to increase with time in a closed system. Things age! This concise reference work brings together experts and key players engaged in the physics of degradation to present the background science, current thinking and developments in understanding, and gives a detailed account of emerging issues across a selection of engineering applications. The work has been put together to equip the upper level undergraduate student, postgraduate student, as well as the professional engineer and scientist, in the importance of physics of degradation. The aim of The Physics of Degradation in Engineered Materials and Devices is to bridge the gap between published textbooks on the fundamental science of degradation phenomena and published research on the engineering science of actual fabricated materials and devices. A history of the observation and understanding of physics of degradation is presented and the fundamentals and principles of thermodynamics and entropy are extensively discussed. This is the focus of this book, with an extended chapter by Alec Feinberg on equilibrium thermodynamic damage and non-equilibrium thermodynamic damage. It concludes with two particular technologies to give examples of areas of application.

The need to more efficiently harvest energy for electronics has spurred investigation into materials that can harvest energy from locally abundant sources. Ferroelectric Materials for Energy Harvesting and Storage is the first book to bring together fundamental mechanisms for harvesting various abundant energy sources using ferroelectric and piezoelectric materials. The authors discuss strategies of designing materials for efficiently harvesting energy sources like solar, wind, wave, temperature fluctuations, mechanical vibrations, biomechanical motion, and stray magnetic fields. In addition, concepts of the high density energy storage using ferroelectric materials is explored. Ferroelectric Materials for Energy Harvesting and Storage is appropriate for those working in materials science and engineering, physics, chemistry and electrical engineering disciplines. - Reviews wide range of energy harvesting including solar, wind, biomechanical and more - Discusses ferroelectric materials and their application to high energy density capacitors - Includes review of fundamental mechanisms of energy harvesting and energy solutions, their design and current applications, and future trends and challenges

The book reviews our current knowledge of piezoelectric materials, including their history, developments, properties, process design, and technical applications in such areas as sensors, actuators, power sources, motors, environmental and biomedical domains. Piezoelectric materials will play a crucial role in the development of sustainable energy systems. Keywords: Piezoelectric Materials, Piezo-crystals, Nanogenerators, Phototronics, Piezoelectric Composites, Biomedical Applications, Energy Harvesting, Piezoelectric Thin Films, Piezoelectric Perovskites, Sensor Applications, Piezoelectric Ceramics, Piezoelectric Semiconductors, Piezoelectric Polymers.

The impetus for the rapid development of thin film technology, relative to that of bulk materials, is its application to a variety of microelectronic products. Many of the characteristics of thin film ferroelectric materials are utilized in the development of these products - namely, their nonvolatile memory and piezoelectric, pyroelectric, and electro-optic properties. It is befitting, therefore, that the first of a set of three complementary books with the general title Integrated Ferroelectric Devices and Technologies focuses on the synthesis of thin film ferroelectric materials and their basic properties. Because it is a basic introduction to the chemistry, materials science, processing, and physics of the materials from which integrated ferroelectrics are made, newcomers to this field as well as veterans will find this book self-contained and invaluable in acquiring the diverse elements requisite to success in their work in this area. It is directed at electronic engineers and physicists as well as process and system engineers, ceramicists, and chemists involved in the research, design, development, manufacturing, and utilization of thin film ferroelectric materials.

This book highlights current trends and research advances in nanotechnology and its applications. It discusses the synthesis and characterization of nanomaterials / nanocomposites for novel applications in environmental monitoring and sustainability, and presents new findings on wastewater treatment technologies using nanofiltration membranes.

Power Ultrasonics: Applications of High-Intensity Ultrasound, Second Edition provides a comprehensive reference on the fundamentals, processing, engineering, medical, food and pharmaceutical applications of ultrasonic processing. Chapters cover the fundamentals of nonlinear propagation of ultrasonic waves in fluids and solids, discuss the materials and designs of power ultrasonic transducers and devices, identify applications of high power ultrasound in materials engineering and mechanical engineering, food processing technology, environmental monitoring and remediation and industrial and chemical processing (including pharmaceuticals), medicine and biotechnology, and cover developments in ultrasound therapy and surgery applications.The new edition also includes recent advances in modeling, characterization and measurement techniques, along with additive manufacturing and micromanufacturing. This is an invaluable reference for graduate students and researchers working in the disciplines of materials science and engineering. In addition, those working on the physics of acoustics, sound and ultrasound, sonochemistry, acoustic engineering and industrial process technology, R&D managers, production, and biomedical engineers will find it useful to their work. - Covers the fundamentals of nonlinear propagation of ultrasonic waves in fluids and solids - Discusses the materials and designs of power ultrasonic transducers and devices - Considers state-of-the-art power sonic applications across a wide range of industries