Many of the advanced electronic components surrounding us in everyday life rely on polar materials to function. Polar materials have an uneven distribution of electric charge. This gives them a positive and a negative side even in the absence of an external electric field. The most important among these are ferroelectric materials, in which the direction of polarization can be reversed by applying an electric field.

Researchers are now identifying materials that combine properties previously thought to be mutually exclusive. This could lead to new technological applications.