Interfaces in nanosize perovskite titanate ferroelectrics -microstructure and impact on selected propertiesMisfit dislocations in epitaxial Pb(Zr 0.52 Ti 0.48 )O 3 (PZT) nanoislands on SrTiO 3 (001) substrates are shown to involve strain fields that distort the PZT lattice in a tube of material with a cross-section of about 4 nm × 8 nm around each misfit dislocation. As a consequence, 10 nm thin nanoislandsaround half of their volume being distorted -are not ferroelectric. This finding corresponds to an impact of the interfacial dislocations on the ferroelectric size effect. Moreover, an interface-related, size-dependent imprint effecti. e., a vertical shift of the ferroelectric hysteresis loopwas observed in polycrystalline PZT and epitaxial BaTiO 3 nanoislands. In result, interfacial engineering is indispensable to obtain nanostructured ferroelectrics with stable polarization and switching properties.