A flexoelectric microelectromechanical system on silicon

Author (s): Bhaskar, U. K.; Banerjee, N.; Abdollahi, A.; Wang, Z.; Schlom, D. G.; Rijnders, G.; Catalan, G.
Journal: Nature Nanotechnology

Volume: 11
Pages: 263 – 266
Date: 2016

Abstract:
Flexoelectricity allows a dielectric material to polarize in response to a mechanical bending moment and, conversely, to bend in response to an electric field. Compared with piezoelectricity, flexoelectricity is a weak effect of little practical significance in bulk materials. However, the roles can be reversed at the nanoscale. Here, we demonstrate that flexoelectricity is a viable route to lead-free microelectromechanical and nanoelectromechanical systems. Specifically, we have fabricated a silicon-compatible thin-film cantilever actuator with a single flexoelectrically active layer of strontium titanate with a figure of merit (curvature divided by electric field) of 3.33 MV−1, comparable to that of state-of-the-art piezoelectric bimorph cantilevers.

Journal paper (from the publisher)  
UPCommons page Link  

Bibtex:

@article{2016-NNANO-BBAWSRG,
	Author = {Bhaskar, Umesh Kumar and Banerjee, Nirupam and Abdollahi, Amir and Wang, Zhe and Schlom, Darrell G. and Rijnders, Guus and Catalan, Gustau},
	Volume = {11},
	Pages = {263–266},
	Journal = {Nature Nanotechnology},
	Title = {A flexoelectric microelectromechanical system on silicon},
	Url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2015.260},
	Year = {2016}}