page_title: Ferroelectric polymer
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Ferroelectric polymer / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Timeline ferroelectric
context_page_description: Ferroelectric polymers
  are a group of crystalline polar polymers that are also ferroelectric, meaning that they maintain a permanent electric polarization that can be reversed, or switched, in an external electric field.
  Ferroelectric polymers, such as polyvinylidene fluoride, are used in acoustic transducers and electromechanical actuators because of their inherent piezoelectric response, and as heat sensors because of their inherent pyroelectric response.
context_section_description: The concept of ferroelectricity was first discovered in 1921.  This phenomenon began to play a much larger role in electronic applications during the 1950s after the increased use of BaTiO₃. This ferroelectric material is part of the corner-sharing oxygen octahedral structure, but ferroelectrics can also be grouped into three other categories.  These categories include organic polymers, ceramic polymer composites, and compounds containing hydrogen-bonded radicals.  It wasn't until 1969 that Kawai first observed the piezoelectric effect in a polymer polyvinylidene fluoride.  Two years later, the ferroelectric properties of the same polymer were reported.  Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, these polymers were applied to data storage and retrieval.  Subsequently, there has been tremendous growth during the past decade in exploring the materials science, physics, and technology of poly(vinylidenefluoride) and other fluorinated polymers.  Copolymer PVDF with trifluoroethylene and odd-numbered nylons were additional polymers that were discovered to be ferroelectric. This propelled a number of developing applications on piezoelectricity and pyroelectricity.
caption: Figure 3: Brief timeline describing important events that have occurred in piezoelectricity and ferroelectric polymer history
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