Real time observation of mechanically triggered piezoelectric current in individual ZnO nanobelts

Abstract

We report here, the mechanically triggered electrical current in the uniaxially compressed individual ZnO nanobelts under no applied bias, measured<italic>in situ</italic>in a transmission electron microscope. In contrast to the bending, the magnitude of the electrical current increased with the increase of uniaxial compression, which indicates load-mode dependency of the detected current.