2016/05/24 by B. Khanbabaee, Erik Mehner, Khanbabaee, B. +17
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Engineering · Materials Science · #Building materials and conservation #Electronic and Structural Properties of Oxides #FOS: Physical sciences #Ion-surface interactions and analysis #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1605.07490
openalex publication_date 2016/05/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Defect engineering is an effective and powerful tool to control existing material properties and create completely new ones, which are symmetry-forbidden in a defect-free crystal. This letter reports on the creation of piezoelectrically active near-surface layer of centrosymmetric SrTiO3, modified by the electric field-induced migration of oxygen vacancies. We provide the unequivocal proof of piezoelectricity through the stroboscopic time-resolved X-ray diffraction under alternating electric field. The magnitude of the discovered piezoelectric effect is comparable with the bulk piezoelectric effect in commercial ferroelectric materials. Such artificially formed defect-mediated piezoelectricity can be important as an alternative road for smart materials design.