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Main Authors: Wang, Zhiguo, Guo, Yuanyang, Rao, Zhenggang, Wen, Zhibin, Stengel, Massimiliano, Shu, Longlong, Catalan, Gustau
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.26720
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author Wang, Zhiguo
Guo, Yuanyang
Rao, Zhenggang
Wen, Zhibin
Stengel, Massimiliano
Shu, Longlong
Catalan, Gustau
author_facet Wang, Zhiguo
Guo, Yuanyang
Rao, Zhenggang
Wen, Zhibin
Stengel, Massimiliano
Shu, Longlong
Catalan, Gustau
contents The coupling between light and strain gradients shows two kinds of effects: light enhanced flexoelectricity (photoflexoelectricity) and gradient enhanced photovoltage (flexophotovoltage). Although these effects originate from fundamentally different physical mechanisms (one is light enhanced electromechanical coupling, the other is a bulk photovoltaic effect), in this article we show that dynamic flexoelectric measurements of semiconductors under illumination intrinsically contain contributions from both. To allow disentangling them, we have developed a general theoretical framework for their combined response in oscillating systems, demonstrating that the two contributions can be unambiguously separated through their distinct frequency and phase dependencies. We have validated these predictions using oscillating cantilever measurements on centrosymmetric perovskite semiconductors (SrTiO3 and methylammonium lead bromide, MAPbBr3), obtaining selfconsistent values for the coefficients both effects which are in excellent agreement with independent static measurements. Our results establish a general protocol for disentangling both light strain gradient couplings using only oscillatory measurements, and clarify the interpretation of flexoelectric measurements under illumination.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_26720
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Dynamic disentanglement of photoflexoelectricity and flexophotovoltage
Wang, Zhiguo
Guo, Yuanyang
Rao, Zhenggang
Wen, Zhibin
Stengel, Massimiliano
Shu, Longlong
Catalan, Gustau
Applied Physics
The coupling between light and strain gradients shows two kinds of effects: light enhanced flexoelectricity (photoflexoelectricity) and gradient enhanced photovoltage (flexophotovoltage). Although these effects originate from fundamentally different physical mechanisms (one is light enhanced electromechanical coupling, the other is a bulk photovoltaic effect), in this article we show that dynamic flexoelectric measurements of semiconductors under illumination intrinsically contain contributions from both. To allow disentangling them, we have developed a general theoretical framework for their combined response in oscillating systems, demonstrating that the two contributions can be unambiguously separated through their distinct frequency and phase dependencies. We have validated these predictions using oscillating cantilever measurements on centrosymmetric perovskite semiconductors (SrTiO3 and methylammonium lead bromide, MAPbBr3), obtaining selfconsistent values for the coefficients both effects which are in excellent agreement with independent static measurements. Our results establish a general protocol for disentangling both light strain gradient couplings using only oscillatory measurements, and clarify the interpretation of flexoelectric measurements under illumination.
title Dynamic disentanglement of photoflexoelectricity and flexophotovoltage
topic Applied Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.26720