Ferroelectric materials are ubiquitous in electrical and electromechanical components and systems. Ferroelectricity is associated with large dielectric and piezoelectric coefficients, particularly when the composition is adjusted to position the solid near a phase boundary. This characteristic allows high volumetric efficiency dielectric charge storage, as well as high displacement actuators at modest voltages. The ability to reorient the spontaneous polarization between crystallographically-defined states is essential in allowing poling of ceramic materials to obtain net piezoelectric or pyroelectric responses.

Capacitors

The largest industrial use of ferroelectric materials is in multilayer ceramic capacitors. The poor availability of mica-based crystals during World War II spurred development of air- and moisture-stable, high volumetric efficiency dielectrics. The subsequent dawn of the electronics age led to production of several trillion BaTiO₃-based capacitors around the world on an annual basis, with hundreds to thousands used in each current generation smart phone or computer. The size of this market is approximately $6 billion. Among the major capacitor suppliers around the world are Murata, Taiyo Yuden, Samsung Electromechanics, Kyocera (AVX), TDK, Yageo, and Kemet.