A spheroid BaTiO3 with a diameter ca. 2 mm was synthesized using a pressurized electrostatic levitation furnace. Phase selection was controlled by varying the superheating and undercooling. A polycrystalline perovskite BaTiO3 was crystallized from a homogeneous melt superheated by 150K and then undercooled by 750K (similar to0.4 T-m), whereas a single crystal of hexagonal BaTiO3 was grown from a melt superheated by 150K and then undercooled by 100K. The polycrystalline perovskite BaTiO3 solidified from undercooled melt showed a high dielectric constant of 4000 at room temperature. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.