Halasyamani, P. Shiv2013-07-162013-07-16May 20132013-05http://hdl.handle.net/10657/414Non-centrosymmetric (NCS) oxide materials are of significant interest because of their functional properties, for example, second-harmonic generating (SHG), piezoelectricity, ferroelectricity, and pyroelectricity. A number of design strategies have been discussed for creating NCS oxide materials. We have focused on using cations susceptible to second-order Jahn-Teller (SOJT) distortion. The distortion can occur in two different types of cations, d0 transition metals (Ti4+, V5+, Nb5+, Mo6+, etc.) and cations with stereoactive lone-pair (Se4+, Te4+, I5+, Tl+, Pb2+, etc.), and results in asymmetric coordination environments. In this dissertation, we report on the syntheses, crystal structures, characterization, functional properties, and their crystal structure-physical property relationships.application/pdfengThe author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s).Non-centrosymmetricCentrosymmetricPolar oxideChemistry, Inorganic2013-07-16Thesisborn digital