I would like to share our recent work published in Nature Communications.

Converse flexoelectricity is a mechanical stress induced by an electric polarization gradient. It can appear in any material, irrespective of symmetry, whenever there is an inhomogeneous electric field distribution. This situation invariably happens in piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM), which is a technique whereby a voltage is delivered to the tip of an atomic force microscope in order to stimulate and probe piezoelectricity at the nanoscale. While PFM is the premier technique for studying ferroelectricity and piezoelectricity at the nanoscale, here we show, theoretically and experimentally, that large effective piezoelectric coefficients can be measured in non-piezoelectric dielectrics due to converse flexoelectricity.

Link:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-09266-y?error=cookies_not_sup...

A post-doc position is available at the University of Notre Dame in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. The project focuses on nanocomposite deformation modeling and performing corresponding experiments using primarily atomic force microscope and X-ray diffractometer. Initial position is for one-year and is extensible for another year contingent upon continued funding. The position offers attractive collaborative opportunities with national labs and material synthesis groups across different universities. Salary is negotiable. Please contact me (vikas.tomar@nd.edu) for more details. The tentative start date is May 01, 2008. Thank You.