International Guest Program

Molecular ceramics and composites as novel materials for energy storage and harvesting

Prof. Julian Walker, NTNU, Norway (Jun)

Opportunities and challenges in ferroelastic energy harvesting

M. Sc. Andreas Warkentin, University of Kassel, Germany (Mar 14)

Lead-free ferroic materials for sensing and energy storage applications

Dr. Shaoxiong Xie, Kyushu University, Japan (May 28)

Small yet bright?! Microwave-assisted synthesis of lanthanide-based nanoparticles

Prof. Dr. Eva Hemmer, University of Ottawa, Canada (Jul 30th)

Evolving domain microstructures in ferroelectric ceramics – simulations vs. experiments

Prof. Dr. Dennis Kochmann, ETH Zürich, Switzerland (Oct 22)

Colloidal QDs Superlattices Towards Optoelectronics Metamaterials

Prof. Dr. Maria Antonietta Loi, University of Groningen, Netherlands (Nov 28)

Development of Functional Dielectric Materials with Abundant Elements

Prof. Dr. Hiroki Taniguchi, Nagoya University, Japan (Dec 5)

Enhanced Electromechanical Properties by Dislocation Imprint in Ferroelectrics

Prof. Dr. Bai-Xiang Xu, TU Darmstadt (Nov 30)

Understanding the Structure-Property Relationship in Lead-Free Piezoelectric [1-x]Ba(Zr,Ti)O₃-[x](Ba,Ca)TiO₃ Through In Situ Total Scattering, Neutron Diffraction, and EXAFS

Prof. Dr. Michelle Dolgos, University of Calgary, Canada (Nov 23)

Recent investigation on piezoelectrics, ferroelectrics photovoltaics, and ferrimagnetic-ferroelastic composites

Prof. Dr. B. Sundarakannan, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University (Oct 4)

The azobenzene switch – from fundamentals to materials applications

Prof. Dr. Hermann Wegner, Justus-Liebig-Universität, Gießen (May 11)

Guiding research in discovery of high temperature ferroelectrics

Prof. Dr. Alp Sehirlioglu, Case Western Reserve University, U. S. (May 19)

Dislocation-tuned functionality in ceramics

Prof. Dr. Jürgen Rödel, TU Darmstadt (July 18)

Understanding Complexities in Electro-Magneto-Mechanically Coupled Materials with Applications for Photo-responsive Materials

Prof. Dr. William Oates, Florida State University, U.S. (July 20)

Machine-learning Based Processing-Microstructure-Property Relationships for Ceramics – Challenges and Opportunities

Prof. Dr. Raj Bordia, Clemson University, USA  (August 3)

Electronic transport properties of ferroelectric domain walls – from fundamental physics to nanoelectronic applications

Jan Schultheiß, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway (Mar 17)
Ferroelectric domain walls are natural interfaces separating volumes with different orientation of the spontaneous polarization. Because of their low symmetry, local electrostatics and confinement effects, the domain walls exhibit unusual electronic transport properties, ranging from highly insulating to metallic-like behavior. These unique properties, combined with their spatial mobility, make the walls attractive as ultra-small components for future nanoelectronics. In my talk, I will discuss the intriguing physics of ferroelectric domain walls and their emergent electronic properties with a focus on the response to alternating voltages. As an example for their technological potential, I will present how ferroelectric domain walls allow to control ac signal and enable completely new types of capacitors.

Photoferroelectrics for self-sustainable microelectronics

Yang Bai, University of Oulu, Finland (April 13)
Ferroelectric materials, after being poled, show piezoelectric and pyroelectric effects which can be used in self-powered kinetic and thermal sensors. Meanwhile, most ferroelectrics exhibit photovoltaic effect when being exposed to lights with photon energy above the band gaps of the ferroelectric materials in question. Photoferroelectrics take advantage of the simultaneous photovoltaic and ferroelectric effects in a single material and thus are beneficial for multi-source energy harvesting and multifunctional sensing devices. This talk will overview topical issues of self-sustainable microelectronics built on photoferroelectrics as well as scientific challenges of engineering photoferroelectric materials, including band gap engineering, trade-offs between strong ferroelectricity and narrow band gap, photo-stimulated domain wall motion, and improvement of photovoltaic energy conversion efficiencies compared to conventional solar cells. Perspectives will be given for further development of photoferroelectrics towards becoming core functional components in self-sustainable microelectronics.

Cold Sintering of Functional Materials

Clive Randall, Materials Research Institute of Penn State University, USA (May 5)

Cold Sintering involves a transient phase that permits the densification of particulate materials at low temperatures 300°C and below. Sintering at such low temperature offers so many new opportunities. It permits the integration of metastable materials that would typically decompose at high temperatures. So cold sinter enables a platform for better unification of material science. Now ceramics, metal and polymers can be processed under a common platform in one step processes. With controlling the forming process new nanocomposites can be fabricated. Polymers, gels and nanoparticulates can be dispersed, interconnected and sintered in the grain boundaries of a ceramic matrix phase.  With the ability to sinter metal phases, multilayer devices can be co-sintered with electrodes made from metals such as Al, Ag, Fe and Cu. With appropriate binder selection, polypropylene carbonate and its de-binding at 130°C we can remove organic binders and leave metals and other more stable polymers within the layers that then can be co-sintered under the cold sintering process and form unique combinations of materials in multilayers.  This talk will cover some of the fundamentals of cold sintering, as well as some new examples of this technology across different material systems, ranging from ferroelectrics, semiconductors, and battery materials.

Topology control of silica glass for ultralow optical scattering loss

Madoka Ono, Research Institute for Electronic Science (RIES) at Hokkaido University, Japan (Jul 4)

Silica glass (SiO2) is widely used as the core material for optical communication fibers. The optical attenuation of the fiber is about 0.2 dB/km at the communication wavelength, but further reduction of the loss is required, due not only to reduce the number of amplifiers for optical signals, but also for the spread of quantum telecommunications, where amplification of quantum cryptography is impossible in principle. We have found that application of high pressure (200 MPa) at high temperature induce reduction of loss significantly down to less than 0.1 dB/km. Molecular dynamics calculations predict further reduction of the loss is expected. The mechanism and the effect of glass topology to such ultralow optical loss will be discussed.

Nanoelectronic Phenomena in Low-Dimensional Ferroelectrics

Alexei Gruverman, University of Nebraska, USA (Jul 21)

The last decade has seen an emergence of two-dimensional variants of ferroelectric materials. In the first part of my lecture, I will discuss a nanoscale insight into the electronic and electromechanical properties of one of the most exciting groups of emerging ferroelectrics – HfO2 family of simple oxides. In the second part, I will discuss the emerging electronic phenomena in the hybrid 2D structures comprised of 2D TMD and ferroelectric films.

New concepts for cooling: Origins of the inverse electrocaloric effect

Anna Grühnebohm, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany (Oct 20)

In this talk she will mainly focus on the electrocaloric effect in the prototypical ferroelectric material BaTiO3. She will analyze the conditions giving rise to large caloric responses based on an effective Hamiltonian derived from first principles. She will show how the combination of field protocol and materials optimization by substitution and strain allows to taylor sign and magnitude of the caloric response.

Accelerated Development of MAX Phase Ceramics for Advanced Nuclear Systems

Konstantina  Lambrinou, University of Huddersfield, UK (Oct 30)

This presentation addresses the challenges involved in the accelerated development of MAX phase ceramics with enhanced radiation tolerance for select applications in Gen-II/III light water reactors (LWRs) and Gen-IV lead-fast reactors (LFRs). The two envisaged applications are (a) pump impellers and fuel cladding coatings for Gen-IV LFRs, and (b) coatings of accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) claddings for Gen-II/III LWRs. The coolant compatibility of the candidate MAX phase ceramics for Gen-IV LFRs was assessed by dedicated exposures to oxygen-poor (C_O << 10^-8 mass%), static & flowing (v » 8 m/s) liquid lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) and liquid lead (Pb), at 500°C for up to 3500 h. The coolant compatibility of the candidate MAX phase ceramics for Gen-II/III LWRs was assessed in both nominal (PWR water, 330°C, £1 month) and transient/accident (steam, 1200°C, 1 h) operation conditions. The radiation response of all MAX phases ceramics was evaluated by in-situ ion irradiation at the MIAMI-2 facility, using 6 keV He⁺ at 350-800°C to a maximum damage dose of 11.5 dpa. The studied MAX phase-based ceramics (211, 312 and 413 ternary compounds and higher order solid solutions) were produced in the (Zr,Nb,Ti,Cr,V,Hf)-(Al,Sn,Si)-C system. The studied MAX phase ceramics were either monolithic (single-crystals and polycrystalline ceramics) or coatings on commercial zircaloy-4 (Zry-4) substrates for the ATF application. Moreover, the irradiation response of high-entropy 211 MAX phases (HE-MAX) in the (Ti-Zr-Hf-V-Nb)-(Al-Sn)-C system was studied for the first time. High-entropy alloys are considered for nuclear applications close to the reactor core due to an exceptional radiation tolerance induced by their enhanced chemical complexity and reduced defect mobility.

Shape memory and Superelastic porous ceramics

Katherine Faber, Caltech, USA (Feb 11)
Some zirconia-based compositions are known to exhibit shape-memory and superelastic effects. This was documented more than 30 years ago for possible use in actuation and energy damping. However, these effects were not successfully realized until the last decade when studies with micron- and sub-micron scale pillars and particles demonstrated that tetragonal-to-monoclinic transformation-induced fracture could be avoided. Inspired by micropillar studies, Prof. Faber will describe a strategy to produce bulk zirconia-based ceramics in which the transformation-generated fracture can be averted.

Lead-free ferroelectric and antiferroelectric niobate ceramics

Jing-Feng Li, Toyota Research Center Tsinghua University, China (Apr 22)
This talk will introduce lead-free niobate-based perovskites including (K,Na)NbO3 and AgNbO3, both of which have been lying at the forefront of functional oxide research. (K,Na)NbO3 (abbreviated as KNN）is a promising lead-free ferroelectric/piezoelectric system, centering on which this talk will give a review about how high-performance piezoceramics have been developed. Based on our recent research about AgNbO3, I will also introduce antiferroelectricity and discuss its underlying connections with high piezoelectricity and dielectric energy storage performance.

Processing Challenges with Alkali-Niobate Based Piezoelectric Ceramics

Barbara Malic, Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia (May 6)
Sodium potassium niobate (K0.5Na0.5NbO3, KNN) based ceramics are one of the groups of lead-free piezoelectrics, which have been intensively studied as possible replacements for highly efficient lead-based perovskite-oxide piezoelectrics. The enhancement of piezoelectric properties is mainly designed by phase boundary engineering. From the chemistry viewpoint such approach results in formulations which contain different cations occupying the same lattice sites, consequently reaching a homogeneous distribution of constituent ions may be difficult. In the lecture solid-state synthesis and sintering of KNN-based ceramics are reviewed and supported by selected case-studies.

Zero-Power ” Flexible Wireless Modules & Inkjet/3D/4D printed electronics for IoT, SmartAg and Smart Cities Ultrabroadband Applications

Manos M. Tentzeris, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA (Sep 9)

In this talk, inkjet-/3D printed antennas, interconnects, “smart” encapsulation and packages, RF electronics, microfluidics and sensors fabricated on glass, PET, paper and other flexible substrates are introduced as a system-level solution for ultra- low-cost mass production of Millimeter-Wave Modules for Communication, Energy Harvesting and Sensing applications. Prof. Tentzeris will touch up the state-of-the-art area of fully-integrated printable broadband wireless modules covering characterization of 3D printed materials up to E-band, novel printable “ramp” interconnects and cavities for IC embedding as well as printable structures forself-diagnostic and anti-counterfeiting packages. Prof. Tentzeris will discuss issues concerning the power sources of „near- perpetual“ RF modules, including state-of-the-artflexible miniaturized enhanced-output and enhanced-range ambient energy harvesters up to above 5G mmW frequencies.

WPT: from µW/cm2 harvesting to kW capacitive vehicle powering

Zoya Popovic, University of Colorado (Oct 7)

This talk will overview wireless power transfer for power levels from mW to kW. The ultra-low power density application is in far-field harvesting at GHz frequencies for unattended wireless sensors. In this case, efficiency and power management are challenging, as well as miniaturization and energy storage. Several examples will be shown, including harvesting sidelo bes from a 4.3GHz altimeter radar antenna on a Boeing 737 aircraft for powering health-monitoring aircraft sensors. At the high power levels, near-field capacitive power transfer is chosen in the 6 MHz range for powering stationary vehicles and vehicles in motion. In this case, over 85% efficiency is achieved for 1kW of capacitive power transfer while meeting safety standards in the vicinity of the vehicle through a near-field phased array approach. Other approaches, such as power beaming and multi-mode shielded wireless powering will also be discussed.

Piezoelectric energy harvesting leveraging concepts from nonlinear dynamics, metamaterials, and phononic crystals

Alper Erturk, Georgia Tech (Nov 11)

This talk will review our efforts on piezoelectric energy harvesting from vibrations and elastic/acoustic waves for low-power electricity generation. Following a brief introduction to linearized piezoelectric energy harvesting, we will discuss how to leverage designed (intentionally introduced) monostable/bistable nonlinearities (of Duffing type) for frequency bandwidth enhancement via experimental case studies, approximate analytical modeling, and numerical simulations. We will also address the modeling and analysis of inherent piezoelectric material and internal/external dissipative nonlinearities (and their interaction with designed nonlinearities), as well as circuit nonlinearities, along with experimental validations. Multifunctional concepts will also be discussed, such as the combination of piezoelectric energy harvesting with locally resonant bandgap formation in metastructures (i.e. metamaterial-based finite structures) for concurrent vibration attenuation and electricity generation. Nonlinearities are exploited in that context as well, in order to achieve amplitude-dependent broadband attenuation (and harvesting) beyond linear metamaterial-based bandgap formation, by employing unit cells with bistable piezoelectric energy-harvesting attachments. If time permits, we will switch from vibrations and standing waves to propagating waves, with demonstrations of using 2D/3D phononic crystal-based lens designs for the enhanced harvesting of elastic/acoustic waves.

Finite Element Simulations on Actuation Properties of Composites of Leadfree Piezoceramics

Marc Kamlah, KIT (Dec 9)

This presentation starts with a general introduction into piezo- and ferroelectricity. We then present the general framework of the theory of electromechanics. Next, basic features of leadfree ergodic and non-ergodic relaxorceramics will be reviewed. The characteristic hysteresis properties will be introduced. In addition, the overall actuation behavior of bi-layer composites is discussed. For these types of materials, departing from previous constitutive models developed for soft PZT piezoceramics, constitutive models will be motivated. The theory has been implemented in COMSOL Multiphysics. Of special interest is the large signal d33* piezoelectric coefficient. Here, the focus will be on the question under which conditions the d33* of a bilayer composite is higher than the one of the two endmember materials, and when the d33* of the composite does not simply follow a rule of mixtures. In this respect, multiple related simulations have been carried out and will be discussed.

How are the Electromechanical Properties of Ferroelectrics Interrelated

Prof Andrew Bell, School of Chemical and Processing Engineering, University of Leeds, UK (May 19)
This tutorial provides an insight into how the intrinsic properties of piezoelectrics are interdependent and lead to well-defined trends in properties across large material data sets.

100 Years of Ferroelectricity

Prof Susan Trolier-McKinstry, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, USA (Jun 2)
A century after the discovery of ferroelectricity, this class of materials continues to be an enabling technology in a number of technological areas. This presentation discusses the history of research in ferroelectrics and related phenomena up to the present, highlighting especially important discoveries.

Pyroelectric Materials and IR sensing

Prof Roger Whatmore, Imperial College London, UK (Jun 16)
This talk provides a background on pyroelectrics, including the physics of pyroelectric infra-red sensors and how to choose pyroelectric materials for a given applications. Finally, IR sensor arrays for movement sensors and thermal imaging are discussed.

Pyroelectric Materials for Energy Harvesting

Dr. Brendan Hanrahan, U.S. Army Research Laboratory (Jun 30)
This talk provides an introduction to power generation with pyroelectric materials, including a discussion of application specific considerations for enhancing the energy conversion.

What can I learn about ferroelectrics with Raman spectroscopy

Dr. Marco Deluca, Materials Center Leoben Forschung GmbH, Austria (Jul 14)
This talk gives an introduction to Raman spectroscopy and its use in characterizing ferroelectric materials in terms of phase transitions, crystalline texture, chemical bonding, and disorder and defects.

Additive Manufacturing of Ceramics

Prof. Dr. Paolo Colombo, University of Padova, Italy (Jul 28)
This talk gives an overview of additive manufacturing techniques for the production of 3D ceramic parts, including the advantages and limitations of the various techniques.

Why relaxor-PT single crystals possess giant piezoelectricity?

Prof. Dr. Shujun Zhang, University of Wollongong, Australia (Aug 25)
Prof. Shujun Zhang discusses the mechanisms responsible for the observed giant electromechanical response of relaxor-PT-based single crystals. The concepts of crystal anisotropy, polarization rotation, morphotropic phase boundaries, and local structure heterogeneities are discussed.

Lead-free piezoceramics and what more?

Prof. Dr. Wook Jo, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea (Sep 8)
Prof. Wook Jo discusses the development of lead-free ferroelectrics as well as limitations to their future improvement and possible methods to increase the piezoelectric response.

The adsorbates on Ferroelectric Surfaces: those long-ignored neighbors

Dr. Neus Domingo, Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Spain (Sep 22)
This presentation introduces adsorbates on ferroelectric surfaces and redox reactions with water and contaminant organic molecules, in addition to the influence of polarization and chemically active sites. Various measurement techniques, such as ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and force microscopy methods are discussed.

Magneto-optical properties of Perovskite nanocrystals

Prof. Dr. Efrat Lifshitz, Israel Institute of Technology (Sep 29)

Quantifying domain wall contributions to properties using X-rays

Prof. Dr. Jacob Jones, North Carolina State University, USA (Oct 6)
In this presentation, Prof. Jones discusses using diffraction techniques to determine the domain wall motion in ferroelectric materials, in particular the contribution of extrinsic effects on the macroscopic electromechanical properties.

What would it take for renewably based electrosynthesis products to substitute those obtained from petrochemical processes

Prof. Dr. Juan Morante, Institut de Recerca en Energia de Catalunya, Spain (Oct 13)

Calculating macroscopic response from diffraction: Coexisting phases

Dr. Manuel Hinterstein, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany (Oct 20)
This presentation discusses diffraction characterization and analysis techniques to determine extrinsic contributions to the macroscopic electromechanical response from both domain wall motion as well as from coexisting phases. Examples are given from lead-containing as well as lead-free ferroelectric systems.

Mechanics of Ferroelectrics

Prof. Dr. Jürgen Rödel, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany (Nov 17)

Ferroelectricity in Perovskite Solar Cells

Alexander Colsmann, Karlsruhe Light Technology Institute, Germany (Dec 1)

Piezoelectric and Dielectric Composites

Ahmad Safari, Glenn Howatt Electroceramics Laboratories (Dec 15)
This presentation introduces the history and concept of composites for piezoelectric and dielectric applications.