Piezoelectric ceramics have now been used for over

30 years. They quickly replaced Rochelle salt as the

most widely used transducer material, and they have
more recently challenged quartz in resonator and

electric wave filter applications. The discovery of the

reinanent piezoelectric effect in ferroelectric barium

titanate ceramic occurred in the later 1940's, 'a and

there has been considerable disagreement on responsibility
for this discovery. At any rate this followed
some years after discovery of the biased piezoelectric
effect. Despite the analogous effects in ferromagnetism
it was not recognized that the polarization would remain
after removal of the electric field. This was perhaps
because the high polarization involves large mechanical

distortion, abou 1% for barium titanate crystallites,

whereas in ferromagnetism the aligned spins cause displacements
only of the order of tens of parts per million.
Barium titanate, the first piezoelectric ceramic, was

used broadly after about 1947. Since about 1957 it has

been replaced in most applications by the lead titanate

zirconate compositionsa, which offer muchh igher

operating temperature, stronger piezoelectric effects,
and a much larger variety of characteristics. The most

commonly used piezoelectric materials prior to 1947

were quartz, Rochelle salt, and ammonium dihydrogen

phosphate. Of these only quartz is still broadly used.

The ceramic materials can be formed into a wide

variety of shapes and sizes And the polar axis can be

directed according to this geometry.

The piezoelectric ceramics are ferroelectrics and

all ferroelectrics are piezoelectric and pyroelectric.
The ferroelectrics are distinguished from other polar

piezoelectrics such as CdS in that the polar moments of

ferroelectrics can be redirected in certain discrete

directions governed by crystal symmetry by an external

electric field. Ferroelectrics also have a reference

nonpolar phase. The piezoelectric ceramics are piezoelectric

only by virtue of the ferroelectric distortion,
and piezoelectricity disappears at the Curie point.
Rochelle salt is ferroelectric between its Curie points,

but is piezoelectric also outside this range because the

nonpolar crystal symmetry is also piezoelectric.