New developments in ferroelectric thin films

We discuss several new aspects of ferroelectric thin-film physics: (1) The apparent surface ordering in polymeric films of the PVDF family and the likelihood of domain-free switching; (2) coherent nucleation of nano-domains in front of a larger advancing domain wall; (3) bismuth oxide nano-electrode self-patterning on SBT films; (4) the surprising discovery of mm2 structure for the ferroelectric layers of strontium titanate in SrTiO3/BaTiO3 superlattices; (5) electrostatic effects in misted deposition of porous silicon with SBT to fabricate voltage-tunable photonic devices.