This book provides a deep insight into recent achievements in synthesis, investigation, and applications of the low-dimensional chalcohalide nanomaterials. The large number of interesting phenomena occur in these compounds, including ferroelectric, piezoelectric, pyroelectric, electrocaloric, Seebeck, photovoltaic, and ferroelectric-photovoltaic effects. Furthermore, the outstanding photoelectrochemical, photocatalytic, and piezocatalytic properties of the chalcohalide nanomaterials have been revealed. Since many chalcohalide semiconductors possess both photoactive and ferroelectric properties, they are recognized as photoferroelectrics. It presents an overview of fabrication of chalcohalide nanomaterials using different methods: mechanical milling of bulk crystals, liquid-phase exfoliation, vapor phase growth, hydro/solvothermal methods, synthesis under ultrasonic irradiation, microwave synthesis, laser/heat-induced crystallization, electrospinning, successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction. The strategies of the chalcohalide nanomaterials processing for construction of functional devices are presented. The book describes solution processing for thin films preparation, spin-coating deposition of polymer composites, solution casting, films deposition via drop-casting, high pressure compression of nanowires into the bulk samples, pressure assisted sintering, and electric field assisted alignment of nanowires. The applications of the chalcohalide nanomaterials for mechanical/thermal energy harvesting and energy storage are presented. Major challenges and emerging trends in fabrication, characterization, and future applications of low-dimensional chalcohalide nanomaterials are discussed. A wealth of information for scholars, graduate students, and engineers involved in research of nanomaterials.

Offering thorough coverage of atomic layer deposition (ALD), this book moves from basic chemistry of ALD and modeling of processes to examine ALD in memory, logic devices and machines. Reviews history, operating principles and ALD processes for each device.

Real insight from leading experts in the field into the causes of the unique photovoltaic performance of perovskite solar cells, describing the fundamentals of perovskite materials and device architectures. The authors cover materials research and development, device fabrication and engineering methodologies, as well as current knowledge extending beyond perovskite photovoltaics, such as the novel spin physics and multiferroic properties of this family of materials. Aimed at a better and clearer understanding of the latest developments in the hybrid perovskite field, this is a must-have for material scientists, chemists, physicists and engineers entering or already working in this booming field.

Using the nano metric resolution of atomic force microscopy techniques, this work explores the rich fundamental physics and novel functionalities of domain walls in ferroelectric materials, the nano scale interfaces separating regions of differently oriented spontaneous polarization. Due to the local symmetry-breaking caused by the change in polarization, domain walls are found to possess an unexpected lateral piezoelectric response, even when this is symmetry-forbidden in the parent material. This has interesting potential applications in electromechanical devices based on ferroelectric domain patterning. Moreover, electrical conduction is shown to arise at domain walls in otherwise insulating lead zirconate titanate, the first such observation outside of multiferroic bismuth ferrite, due to the tendency of the walls to localize defects. The role of defects is then explored in the theoretical framework of disordered elastic interfaces possessing a characteristic roughness scaling and complex dynamic response. It is shown that the heterogeneous disorder landscape in ferroelectric thin films leads to a breakdown of the usual self-affine roughness, possibly related to strong pinning at individual defects. Finally, the roles of varying environmental conditions and defect densities in domain switching are explored and shown to be adequately modelled as a competition between screening effects and pinning.

Ferroelectric materials have been and still are widely used in many applications, that have moved from sonar towards breakthrough technologies such as memories or optical devices. This book is a part of a four volume collection (covering material aspects, physical effects, characterization and modeling, and applications) and focuses on the application of ferroelectric devices to innovative systems. In particular, the use of these materials as varying capacitors, gyroscope, acoustics sensors and actuators, microgenerators and memory devices will be exposed, providing an up-to-date review of recent scientific findings and recent advances in the field of ferroelectric devices.