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${}_3$; the transition near $120{}^{\circ }\mathrm{C}$ changes crystal symmetry and electrical response.