Constructing polymorphic phase boundary for high-performance inorganic photostrictive materials

Abstract By converting light into mechanical strain, photostrictive materials are expected to define a revolutionary solution to the wireless micro-electromechanical devices. However, the photoinduced strain (photostriction) of most inorganic materials are unsatisfactory as compared to the electric-...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Chen Chen, Wenhao Liu, Fengwu Guo, Xiang He, Lu Wang, Muzaffar Ahmad Boda, Xiao Wang, Junwei Luo, Zhiguo Yi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-03-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58100-1
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Summary:Abstract By converting light into mechanical strain, photostrictive materials are expected to define a revolutionary solution to the wireless micro-electromechanical devices. However, the photoinduced strain (photostriction) of most inorganic materials are unsatisfactory as compared to the electric-field-induced strain of ferro/piezoelectric materials. Here, we demonstrate the effective optimization of the photostriction of inorganic materials by constructing polymorphic phase boundary (PPB) in Pb3V2-x P x O8 compounds. Large photostriction over 0.3% and excellent photostrictive efficiency in the level of 10-10 m3/W are realized in Pb3V2-x P x O8 compositions at the PPB region, which perform better than most of the existing inorganic photostrictive materials. Besides, photostriction over 0.1% (same level of piezoelectric strain) can be achieved with light intensity as low as 200 mW/cm2. We theoretically reveal that enhanced photostriction arises from photoinduced phase transition driven by Pb-O-V collinearity and V-V dimer formation, and P-doping can facilitate the transition, enabling large deformation at low photoexcitation. This work will accelerate the development of high-performance inorganic photostrictive materials and their applications for optomechanical devices.
ISSN:2041-1723