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Updated: Sep 13, 2025

Visualizing Uniaxial-strain Manipulation of Antiferromagnetic Domains in Fe1+YTe Using a Spin-polarized Scanning Tunneling Microscope
Published on: March 24, 2019
Flexoelectric manipulation of ferroelectric polarization in self-strained tellurium
Yan Yan1, Xiongyi Liang1,2,3, Liqiang Wang4
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, P.R. China.
Abstract:
Beyond conventional ferroelectric compounds, the realization of single-element ferroelectricity expands the scope of ferroelectric materials and diversifies polarization mechanisms. However, strategies for manipulating ferroelectric dipoles in elemental ferroelectrics remain underexplored, limiting their broader applications. Here, we introduce a universal flexoelectric manipulation strategy to tune the ferroelectric and piezoelectric polarization of one-dimensional self-strained tellurium (Te) ferroelectrics. A substantial flexoelectric field of 9.55 microcoulombs per square centimeter was observed in self-strained Te, inducing a polarization rotation of 18°, comparable to the typical 15° rotation in ferroelectric PbTiO3 compounds. This substantial polarization rotation enhances ferroelectric coercivity by 165% and piezoelectric responses by 75% compared to unstrained Te. Moreover, the flexoelectric manipulation of ferroelectric polarization demonstrated improved energy harvesting performance at the device level, surpassing most existing counterparts. Our findings highlight the crucial role of flexoelectricity-ferroelectricity coupling in developing high-performance single-element electromechanical devices and ferroelectronics.
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