The development of magnetoelectric multiferroic materials, which combine and couple (ferro)magnetism and ferroelectricity in the same material, are discussed from a chemist's perspective. The chemical challenges that must be overcome to combine (ferro)magnetism and ferroelectricity are highlighted and the developments in crystal chemistry that have enabled identification of new multiferroics are outlined. The chemical applications of multiferroic materials are described and open questions that are particularly amenable to chemical solutions are discussed.
Nicola A. Spaldin (Thu,) studied this question.