Ferroelectric nanoparticles and their use in disparate optical devices

The fabrication [1] and ``harvesting'' [2] of stressed ferroelectric nanoparticles and the characterization of these materials will be discussed. Due to the induced surface stress in \textless 10 nm size nanoparticles, a strong spontaneous polarization is achieved (4-5 times greater than found in the bulk for the case of BaTiO$_{3})$ [3,4]. These materials have been characterized in both isotropic and anisotropic liquids. The benefits of using these nanoparticles have been demonstrated by a significant enhancement in the field sensitivity (display) and optical gain (hybrid photorefractive) liquid crystal systems.\\[4pt] [1] H. Atkuri, G. Cook, D. R. Evans, C.-I. Cheon, A. Glushchenko, V. Reshetnyak, Yu. Reznikov, J. West, K. Zhang, \textit{Journal of Optics A: Pure and Applied Optics}, \textbf{11,} 024006 (2009).\\[0pt] [2] G. Cook, J. L. Barnes, R. F. Ziolo, A. Ponce, V. Yu. Reshetnyak, A. Glushchenko, S. A. Basun, P. P. Banerjee, D. R. Evans, \textit{J. Appl. Phys. }\textbf{108,} 064309 (2010).\\[0pt] [3] S. A. Basun, G. Cook, V. Yu. Reshetnyak, A. V. Glushchenko, and D. R. Evans. \textit{Phys. Rev. B}, \textbf{84,} 024105 (2011).\\[0pt] [4] D. R. Evans, S. A. Basun, G. Cook, I. P. Pinkevych, and V. Yu. Reshetnyak, \textit{Phys. Rev. B}, \textbf{84,} 174111 (2011).