Flexoelectricity

Flexoelectricity is a property of a dielectric material whereby it exhibits a spontaneous electrical polarization induced by a strain gradient. Flexoelectricity is not the same as Ferroelasticity.

The electric polarization due to mechanical stress in a dielectric is given by

$P_i=d_{ijk}\sigma_{jk}+\mu_{ijkl}\frac{\partial\epsilon_{jk}}{\partial x_l}$

where the first term corresponds to the direct piezoelectric effect and the second term corresponds to the flexoelectric polarization induced by the strain gradient.

Here, the flexoelectric coefficient, $\mu_{ijkl}$, is a fourth-rank polar tensor and $d_{ijk}$ is the coefficient corresponding to the direct piezoelectric effect.

See also

• Piezoelectricity
• Ferroelectricity
• Ferroelasticity

External links

• Introduction to Flexoelectricity