Ferroelectrics are insulators whose electric polarisation can be flipped by a voltage and stays flipped without power, and the current research front is dominated by hafnium-zirconium oxide for CMOS-compatible embedded memory plus a fast-growing set of layered van der Waals and quantum ferroelectrics for memory, photonics and magnetoelectric devices.
Summary
Underneath both branches, the field is re-tooling its theory and its measurement hygiene. A unified definition of ferroelectricity based on switchable polarisation differences between energetically equivalent states, rather than polar space-group membership, has been used to screen synthesised materials and identify new quantum ferroelectrics including Ba3I6 and Cs2PdC2. Finite-temperature behaviour can now be predicted from ground-state properties alone, without the fitted temperature-dependent parameters that Landau-Ginzburg treatments require, with quantitative agreement for PbTiO3, SrTiO3 and KTaO3. On the sceptical side, series capacitance artefacts can produce apparent polarisation hysteresis loops even under the double-wave method, and loops of that kind appear in the published literature; and a 25-year-old prediction of room-temperature out-of-plane ferroelectricity in compressively strained SrTiO3 has been re-examined at up to -3% strain, where butterfly capacitance-voltage hysteresis and domain-like piezoresponse were found to be inconsistent with a stable ferroelectric state.
Evidence base
Open questions
Assessment drafted 2026-08-31 from up to 18 KB sources using the technology-scorecard framework; scores are a draft read pending review.
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Can HZO device-to-device variability be reduced by direct process control (oxygen partial pressure, laser energy density window, film thickness uniformity) to the point that per-die statistical screening becomes unnecessary, or is screening a permanent feature of the technology?
Do the ML-screened candidates, in particular AuCrP2S6 with its 7.46 pC/m polarisation and ~130 meV/f.u. switching barrier, survive attempted synthesis and show the predicted four-state behaviour with bulk-photovoltaic readout?
How many published thin-film and 2D ferroelectricity claims survive re-measurement using piezoelectric strain loops rather than polarisation loops alone, given that series capacitance can mimic hysteresis even under the double-wave method?
Can charged domain wall conductivity in a perovskite be made robust across phase transitions and ordinary temperature swings, or does the fragmentation observed at the tetragonal-orthorhombic transition rule out domain wall interconnect?
Does any ferroelectric material class beyond HfO2 reach CMOS-compatible integration — specifically, can sub-20 nm BaTiO3 films be ALD-deposited with device-grade phase control?
Neuromorphic / analogue computing: can multi-state FeFET polarisation (partial switching) be used for reliable weight storage in edge-AI inference — what is the practical bit precision ceiling?
What is the commercialisation path for AlScN ferroelectric (CMOS-compatible, high coercive field) as a piezo-MEMS alternative to PZT — does it reach MEMS foundry production by 2028?