Regensburg 2013 – scientific programme

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DF: Fachverband Dielektrische Festkörper

DF 20: Focus Session: Organic ferroelectrics

DF 20.2: Invited Talk

Thursday, March 14, 2013, 10:10–10:50, H11

Ferroelectricity in organic and hybrid organic-inorganic compounds — •Alessandro Stroppa and Silvia Picozzi — CNR-SPIN Via Vetoio, 67100, L’Aquila (Italy)

Ferroelectric materials, whose spontaneous polarizations can be switched under an external electric field, have a wide range of applications in device electronics. The first ferroelectric crystal, Rochelle salt was discovered in 1920. Recent discoveries of ferroelectricity in organic solids have been limited to some well-known polymer ferroelectrics or a few low molecular mass compounds. Computational approaches based on density functional theory represent a valuable tool in order to predict or suggest new organic ferroelectrics with large values of polarization needed for device applications. In particular, the modern theory of polarization is used to estimate the ferroelectric polarization in insulating compounds and symmetry analysis gives an important help for gaining insights into the mechanisms responsible for the ferroelectric polarization. In this contribution we will focus on the description of the ferroelectric properties of organic compounds, based on density functional theory. We will focus on simple organic molecular crystals as well as complex organic-inorganic systems, such a metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). In particular, MOFs with a perovskite topology show promising new routes for the cohexistence of ferroelectricity and magnetism, i.e. multiferroicity.