Electromechanical poling of piezoelectrics

Abstract

One of the main obstacles in the development of high-performance piezoelectric materials for advanced devices is reaching sufficient levels of electrical poling by application of electric fields. To overcome this obstacle, we suggest an electromechanical poling method, which makes use of the ferroelastic properties of ferroelectric perovskite structures. It is shown that the application of mechanical stress perpendicular to the electrical poling direction drastically improves the ferro- and piezoelectric properties. The electric field required for poling is decreased by 75%. Electromechanical poling thus can pave the way for the next generation of high-performance piezoelectric materials.