Ferroelectric material

Patent Pending Ferroelectricity is a property of certain materials that have a spontaneous electric polarization that can be reversed by the application of an external electric field.[1][2] The term is used in analogy to ferromagnetism, in which a material exhibits a permanent magnetic moment. Ferromagnetism was already known when ferroelectricity was discovered in 1920 in Rochelle salt by Valasek.[3] Thus, the prefix ferro, meaning iron, was used to describe the property despite the fact that most ferroelectric materials do not contain iron.