Advanced Nanostructured Perovskite Oxides: Synthesis, Physical Properties, Structural Characterizations and Functional Applications

Perovskite structure originated from mineral CaTiO3 , and now refers to a wide family of functional oxides with a chemical formula ABO3 . Because of the chemical flexibilities of the A- and B-sited cations ABO3 perovskite oxides exhibit much high chemical and structural adaptabilities,leading to large number of compounds. Perovskite oxides exhibit multifunctional properties such as dielectric, ferroelectric, piezoelectric, half-metallic ferromagnetic, antiferromagnetic, and multiferroic properties, which enable them to be applicable in microelectronic industry. When the geometry sizes of perovskite oxides are reduced to nanometer sizes, novel physical properties are discovered, which are much different from that exhibited by the bulk and film counterparts. Therefore, advanced nanostructured perovskite oxides can find many promising applications in modern microelectronics, spintronics, optoelectronics, and environmental remediation. This chapter first provides a comprehensive review on synthesis of advanced nanostructured perovskite oxides, and then describes their physical properties. Their structural characterizations are also addressed.The functional applications of nanostructured perovskite oxides in oxide nanoelectronic devices, energy storage devices, and photovoltaic devices, are discussed. A bright future of nanostructured perovskite oxides is also envisioned.