Dear Colleagues,

Since their discovery, piezoelectric materials have found numerous applications over the years, ranging from sonar to, at present, integrated devices. Thanks to their unique bidirectional energy conversion potentials, such materials have been the subject of many scientific and industrial studies, and many material devices have emerged through research progress.

Hence, the objective of IWPMA 2020 (the 17th edition of IWPMA after the last editions in Lyon, France in 2019 and Kobe, Japan in 2018) is to gather researchers in a unique and successful international workshop to share their latest discoveries in terms of piezoelectric materials and their application in actuators, and more generally, energy conversion devices, thus pioneering and shaping the future of piezoelectric materials and devices.

The conference scope therefore focuses on piezoelectric materials (ceramics, single crystals, polymers, lead-free materials, elaboration, characterization, etc.), as well as their application in actuators (ultrasonic tools, acoustic devices, motors, transformers, etc.) and in sensing and energy harvesting systems (imaging, MEMS, etc.). In this framework, this Special Issue aims at gathering selected papers from presentations performed during the conference. The conference topics cover but are not limited to the following items:

Piezoelectric material and structures

• Synthesis and elaboration: ceramics; 
• Polymers, single crystals, lead-free materials;
• Multiferroic materials and systems;
• Piezoelectric metamaterials and metastructures;
• Manufacturing processes;

Modeling and Characterization

• Multiphysics modeling involving piezoelectric/flexoelectric effects;
• Piezoelectric material and device modeling;
• Numerical methods;
• Experimental methods.

Devices and Systems

• MEMS devices (actuators and sensors);
• Solid state actuators;
• Composite sensors/actuators;
• Ultrasonic and acoustic devices; 
• Piezoelectric transformers;
• Piezo-based structural health monitoring;
• Energy harvesting structures;
• Drive circuits for piezoelectric devices;
• Electrical interfaces for energy harvesting.

Prof. Dr. Jörg Wallaschek
Dr. Jens Twiefel
Dr. Yongke Yan
Guest Editors

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• Piezoelectric Materials
• Synthesis and Elaboration
• Manufacturing
• Characterization and Modeling
• Transducers
• Ultrasonic Tool
• Ultrasonic Motor
• Sensor
• Energy Harvesting
• MEMS