Nonreciprocal Bending in Ferroelectric Membranes Driven by Flexoelectricity
ABSTRACT Nonreciprocity reflects the asymmetric propagation or motion of an object in two opposite directions and can achieve directional transport in physics. However, nonreciprocity in natural quasi‐static mechanical systems, including nonreciprocal bending, has rarely been explored. Here we demonstrate nonreciprocal bending in a freestanding ferroelectric single‐crystalline PbTiO 3 membrane using suspended‐membrane nanoindentation. The mechanical bending of the ferroelectric membrane is strongly asymmetric in the two opposite bending directions with a difference in effective elastic modulus of up to 33%. The elastic recovery of bending deformation also becomes polarity‐dependent. Such unconventional nonreciprocal bending originates from the asymmetric ferroelectric domain switching driven by the crucial flexoelectricity, as revealed by phase‐field simulations. This work enriches the nonreciprocal functionalities of ferroelectrics and presents a route for exploring more nonreciprocal effects by flexoelectric engineering.
Authors
- Jiawang Hong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9915-8072)
- Leyan Nian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5680-8215)
- Qi Ren (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-5154-0861)
- Songhua Cai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3839-2030)
- Yingzhuo Lun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2346-4524)
- Yuefeng Nie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9948-9904)
- Zewei Hou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-5969-0085)
- Lu Han (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8098-936X)
- Weiyou Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3607-3514)
- Xinrui Yang
Institutions
- Beijing Institute of Technology (CN)
- Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HK)
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures (CN)
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures
- Nanjing University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Materials
- Published
- 2026-10-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.75369
- Primary Topic
- Ferroelectric and Piezoelectric Materials
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
- China Scholarship Council
- Natural Science Foundation of Beijing Municipality
- Beijing Institute of Technology Research Fund Program for Young Scholars