Glory of piezoelectric perovskites

This article reviews the history of piezoelectric perovskites and forecasts future development trends, including Uchino's discoveries such as the Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-PbTiO₃ electrostrictor, Pb(Zn_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-PbTiO₃ single crystal, (Pb, La)(Zr, Ti)O₃ photostriction, and Pb(Zr, Ti)O₃-Terfenol magnetoelectric composites. We discuss five key trends in the development of piezomaterials: performance to reliability, hard to soft, macro to nano, homo to hetero, and single to multi-functional.