Engineering of piezoelectric properties in ferroelectric ceramics and thin films

The paper discusses different possibilities for controlling piezoelectric properties of ferroelectric materials and devices. The piezoelectric properties engineering can be made on different scales. Tuning of the piezoelectric response by controlling contributions from domain walls displacement is used to illustrate engineering on nanometer scale. Texture control in ferroelectric films and grain size control is discussed as an example of property control on micrometer scale. Finally, engineering on macroscopic (millimeter) scale is illustrated by amplification methods employed in multilayer actuators and different bimorph-type structures as well as by control of electro-mechanical properties in polymer-ceramic composites.