Ferroelectricity is a subset of pyroelectricity, which brings spontaneous electronic polarization to the material.

Ferroelectric phase transitions are often characterized as either displacive (such as BaTiO₃) or order-disorder (such as NaNO₂), though often phase transitions will demonstrate elements of both behaviors. In barium titanate, a typical ferroelectric of the displacive type, the transition can be understood in terms of a polarization catastrophe, in which, if an