En las fronteras de la Materia Condensada

Following a brief review of the initial activities at the Physics Department of the FCEN, UBA, the present development, mostly located at the Rosario National University, is described. The setup of atomistic models of perovskites, which evolved from lattice dynamical calculations with the help of recent ab-initio calculations, is explained. The use of such models to understand the behaviour of real materials in the bulk, thin films and heterostructures is presented. Additional results on the basic mechanism of ferroelectricity in H-bonded compounds are reported. Also the experimental advances in thin films preparation by chemical liquid deposition and their characterization are reviewed. Activities on local characterization of perovskites through the technique of perturbative angular correlation spectroscopy at the La Plata National University are also reported.