View source for Antiferroelectricity

'''Antiferroelectricity''' is a physical property of certain materials. It is closely related to [[ferroelectricity]]; the relation between antiferroelectricity and ferroelectricity is analogous to the relation between [[antiferromagnetism]] and [[ferromagnetism]].

An antiferroelectric material consists of an ordered ([[crystal]]line) array of [[electric dipole]]s (from the ions and electrons in the material), but with adjacent dipoles oriented in opposite (antiparallel) directions (the dipoles of each orientation form interpenetrating sublattices, loosely analogous to a [[checkerboard]] pattern).<ref>{{cite book|title=Compendium of chemical terminology - Gold Book|publisher=[[International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry]]|year=2014|url=http://goldbook.iupac.org/PDF/goldbook.pdf|access-date=2012-10-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160913210137/http://goldbook.iupac.org/PDF/goldbook.pdf|archive-date=2016-09-13|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Charles Kittel |author-link=Charles Kittel |title=Theory of Antiferroelectric Crystals |journal=[[Physical Review|Phys. Rev.]] |volume=82 |issue= 5|pages=729–732 |year=1951 |doi=10.1103/PhysRev.82.729 |bibcode = 1951PhRv...82..729K }}</ref> This can be contrasted with a ferroelectric, in which the dipoles all point in the same direction.

In an antiferroelectric, unlike a ferroelectric, the total, macroscopic [[polarization density|spontaneous polarization]] is zero, since the adjacent dipoles cancel each other out.

Antiferroelectricity is a property of a material, and it can appear or disappear (more generally, strengthen or weaken) depending on temperature, pressure, external electric field, growth method, and other parameters. In particular, at a high enough temperature, antiferroelectricity disappears; this temperature is known as the [[Néel point]] or [[Curie point]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Polarization states}}

[[Category:Electrical phenomena]]
[[Category:Phases of matter]]


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