Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-materials-science-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/paper-1/1/a/ii/solution

Barium titanate has a high-temperature cubic perovskite structure, with Ti centred in its oxygen octahedron on average. This phase is paraelectric. Near room temperature the structure is tetragonal, with relative ionic displacements that give a spontaneous electric polarization. This phase is ferroelectric: an applied electric field can switch between differently polarized domains. Both phases have the same composition, BaTiO; the transition near changes crystal symmetry and electrical response.

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