Metal oxides having the cubic (or nearly cubic), ABO3 perovskite structure constitute a wide class of compounds that display an amazing variety of interesting properties. The perovskite family encompasses insulators, piezoelectrics, ferroelectrics, metals, semiconductors, magnetic, and superconducting materials. So broad and varied is this class of materials that a comprehensive treatise is virtually impossible and certainly beyond the scope of this introductory text. In this book we treat only those materials that possess electronic states described by energy band theory. However, a chapter is devoted to the quasiparticle-like excitations observed in high-temperature superconducting metal oxides. Although principally dealing with the cubic perovskites, tetragonal distortions and octahedral tilting are discussed in the text. Strong electron correlation theories appropriate for the magnetic properties of the perovskites are not discussed. Discussions of the role of strong electron correlation are frequent in the text, but the development of the many-electron theory crucial for magnetic insulators and high-temperature superconductors is not included.

This book is primarily intended as an introductory textbook. The purpose is to provide the reader with a qualitative understanding of the physics and chemistry that underlies the properties of “d-band” perovskites. It employs simple linear combinations of atomic orbitals (LCAO) models to describe perovskite materials that possess energy bands derived primarily from the d orbitals of the metal ions and the p orbitals of the oxygen ions.