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Organosilicons have been used extensively in aerospace, electronics, food, medicine and other fields, due to their low viscosity, hydrophobicity, corrosion resistance, non‐toxic, and physiologically inert features. Despite extensive interest, however, organosilicon ferroelectric crystals have never been found. Here, by using the chemical design strategy, we successfully obtained a molecular ferroelectric D‐chiro‐inositol‐SiMe3 with polar P43 symmetry, whose spontaneous polarization can be electrically switchable on thin film. The introduction of organosilicon groups endows the thin films with excellent softness, ductility and flexibility (extremely low hardness of 72.8 MPa and small elastic modulus of 5.04 GPa) that are desirable for biomedical and human‐compatible applications. As the first case of organosilicon ferroelectric crystal to date, this work offers a new structural paradigm for molecular ferroelectrics, and highlights their potential for flexible bio‐electronic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites (OIHPs) have gained tremendous interest for their rich functional properties. However, the coexistence of more than one of ferroelectricity, ferromagnetism and ferroelasticity has been rarely found in OIHPs. Herein, we report a two‐dimensional Cr2+‐based OIHP, [3,3‐difluorocyclobutylammonium]2CrCl4 ([DFCBA]2CrCl4), which shows both ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism. It undergoes a 4/mmmFm type ferroelectric phase transition at a temperature as high as 387 K and shows multiaxial ferroelectricity with a saturate polarization of 2.1 μC cm−2. It acts as a soft ferromagnet with a Curie temperature of 32.6 K. This work throws light on the exploration of OIHPs with the coexistence of ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism for applications in future multifunctional smart devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With prosperity, decay, and another spring, molecular ferroelectrics have passed a hundred years since Valasek first discovered ferroelectricity in the molecular compound Rochelle salt. Recently, the proposal of ferroelectrochemistry has injected new vigor into this century-old research field. It should be highlighted that piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) technique, as a non-destructive imaging and manipulation method for ferroelectric domains at the nanoscale, can significantly speed up the design rate of molecular ferroelectrics as well as enhance the ferroelectric and piezoelectric performances relying on domain engineering. Herein, we provide a brief review of the contribution of the PFM technique toward assisting the design and performance optimization of molecular ferroelectrics. Relying on the relationship between ferroelectric domains and crystallography, together with other physical characteristics such as domain switching and piezoelectricity, we believe that the PFM technique can be effectively applied to assist the design of high-performance molecular ferroelectrics equipped with multifunctionality, and thereby facilitate their practical utilization in optics, electronics, magnetics, thermotics, and mechanics among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, the field of ferroelectric random access memories (FeRAMs) is mainly dominated by inorganic ferroelectric thin films like Pb(Zr,Ti)O3, which suffer from the issues of environmental harmfulness, high processing temperatures, and high fabrication costs. In these respects, molecular ferroelectric thin films are particularly advantageous and thus become promising alternatives to the conventional inorganic ones. For the prospect of FeRAMs applications, they should fulfill the requirements of effective polarization switching and low-voltage, high-speed operation. Despite recent advancements, molecular ferroelectric thin films with such high performance still remain a huge blank. Herein we present the first example of a large-area continuous biaxial molecular ferroelectric thin film that gets very close to the goal of application in FeRAMs: [Hdabco]BF4 (dabco = diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane). In addition to excellent film performance, it is the coexistence of a low coercive voltage of ~12 V and ultrafast polarization switching at a significantly high frequency of 20 kHz that affords [Hdabco]BF4 considerable potential for memory devices. Particularly, piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) clearly demonstrates the four polarization directions and polarization switching at a low voltage down to ~4.2 V (with an ~150 nm thick film). This innovative work on high-performance molecular ferroelectric thin films, which can be compatible with wearable devices, will inject new vitality to the low-power information field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]