Jonathan E Spanier

This chapter reviews the background and significant advances in the science based on exploiting known and novel light‐matter interactions in semiconductor ferroelectrics possessing atomic and mesoscopic‐scale degrees of freedom. Novel chemical design strategies for attaining, tuning, and understanding ferroelectric and electronic properties through, for example, cation arrangement and cation and O stoichiometry, are discussed. Strategies for synthesizing new complex oxides in both bulk and thin‐film form, permitting precise control of stoichiometry and oxidation states and using new methods that are manufacturing‐scalable are also discussed. The chapter discusses the historical and fundamental aspects of photovoltaic effects in various ferroelectrics, providing a comparison with well‐known semiconductor materials. It highlights various chemical approaches to and design aspects of ferroelectric materials, providing a perspective of the existing or expected photovoltaic properties of such ferroelectrics. The chapter comments on the outlook for this emerging and captivating field of photovoltaic ferroelectrics.