Flexoelectric manipulation of ferroelectric polarization in self-strained tellurium

Yan Yan; Xiongyi Liang; Liqiang Wang; Yuxuan Zhang; Jiaming Zhou; Weijun Wang; Zhibo Zhang; Yu Zhou; Irum Firdous; Zhengxun Lai; Wei Wang; Pengshan Xie; Yuecheng Xiong; Walid A. Daoud; Zhiyong Fan; Dong-Myeong Shin; Yong Yang; Yang  Lu; Xiao Cheng Zeng; You Meng; Johnny C. Ho

doi:10.1126/sciadv.adu1716

Flexoelectric manipulation of ferroelectric polarization in self-strained tellurium

Yan Yan (Co-first Author)
, Xiongyi Liang (Co-first Author)
, Liqiang Wang (Co-first Author)
, Yuxuan Zhang
, Jiaming Zhou
, Weijun Wang
, Zhibo Zhang
, Yu Zhou
, Irum Firdous
, Zhengxun Lai
, Wei Wang
, Pengshan Xie
, Yuecheng Xiong
, Walid A. Daoud
, Zhiyong Fan
, Dong-Myeong Shin
, Yong Yang
, Yang Lu^*
, Xiao Cheng Zeng^*
, You Meng^*

Johnny C. Ho^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

59 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

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. © 2025 The Authors

Original language	English
Article number	eadu1716
Journal	Science Advances
Volume	11
Issue number	31
Online published	1 Aug 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adu1716
Publication status	Published - Aug 2025

Funding

This research was financially supported by the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (CRS_CityU101/24), the Innovation and Technology Fund (MHP/044/23) from the Innovation Technology Commission of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China, the Science Technology and Innovation Committee of Shenzhen Municipality (JCYJ20230807114910021), and Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2024A1515011922). X.L. and X.C.Z. acknowledges the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2023A1515110920 and 2024A1515012307) and the Sichuan Science and Technology Program (2024NSFSC1141). Y.L. acknowledges support by the Hong Kong RGC general research fund (RFS2021-1S05 and T45-406/23-R).

Publisher's Copyright Statement

This full text is made available under CC-BY-NC 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

RGC Funding Information

RGC-funded

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2 Finished
2 Active

NSFC-CRS: 1D van der Waals Atomic Chains for 3D-integrated Retinomorphic Optoelectronics
HO, J. C. Y. (Principal Investigator / Project Coordinator), Fan, Z. (Co-Principal Investigator) & SHEN, G. (Co-Principal Investigator)
1/01/25 → …
Project: Research
ITF: Brain-inspired Kinetic Oxide Nanowires Artificial Visual Neurons
HO, J. C. Y. (Principal Investigator / Project Coordinator) & XIE, P. (Co-Investigator)
1/05/24 → …
Project: Research
TBRS-ExtU-Lead: Diamond-based Multi-modal Quantum Sensing of Nanomagnetism
LIU, R. (Main Project Coordinator [External]) & LU, J. (Principal Investigator / Project Coordinator)
1/01/24 → 31/12/24
Project: Research

Cite this

Yan, Y., Liang, X., Wang, L., Zhang, Y., Zhou, J., Wang, W., Zhang, Z., Zhou, Y., Firdous, I., Lai, Z., Wang, W., Xie, P., Xiong, Y., Daoud, W. A., Fan, Z., Shin, D.-M., Yang, Y., Lu, Y., Zeng, X. C., ... Ho, J. C. (2025). Flexoelectric manipulation of ferroelectric polarization in self-strained tellurium. Science Advances, 11(31), Article eadu1716. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adu1716

@article{472dc51c9f9a48ac864591df7b380f33,

title = "Flexoelectric manipulation of ferroelectric polarization in self-strained tellurium",

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. {\textcopyright} 2025 The Authors",

author = "Yan Yan and Xiongyi Liang and Liqiang Wang and Yuxuan Zhang and Jiaming Zhou and Weijun Wang and Zhibo Zhang and Yu Zhou and Irum Firdous and Zhengxun Lai and Wei Wang and Pengshan Xie and Yuecheng Xiong and Daoud, \{Walid A.\} and Zhiyong Fan and Dong-Myeong Shin and Yong Yang and Yang Lu and Zeng, \{Xiao Cheng\} and You Meng and Ho, \{Johnny C.\}",

year = "2025",

month = aug,

doi = "10.1126/sciadv.adu1716",

language = "English",

volume = "11",

journal = "Science Advances",

issn = "2375-2548",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",

number = "31",

}

Yan, Y , Liang, X , Wang, L , Zhang, Y, Zhou, J, Wang, W , Zhang, Z, Zhou, Y, Firdous, I , Lai, Z , Wang, W , Xie, P , Xiong, Y , Daoud, WA, Fan, Z, Shin, D-M, Yang, Y, Lu, Y, Zeng, XC , Meng, Y & Ho, JC 2025, 'Flexoelectric manipulation of ferroelectric polarization in self-strained tellurium', Science Advances, vol. 11, no. 31, eadu1716. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adu1716

TY - JOUR

T1 - Flexoelectric manipulation of ferroelectric polarization in self-strained tellurium

AU - Yan, Yan

AU - Liang, Xiongyi

AU - Wang, Liqiang

AU - Zhang, Yuxuan

AU - Zhou, Jiaming

AU - Wang, Weijun

AU - Zhang, Zhibo

AU - Zhou, Yu

AU - Firdous, Irum

AU - Lai, Zhengxun

AU - Wang, Wei

AU - Xie, Pengshan

AU - Xiong, Yuecheng

AU - Daoud, Walid A.

AU - Fan, Zhiyong

AU - Shin, Dong-Myeong

AU - Yang, Yong

AU - Lu, Yang

AU - Zeng, Xiao Cheng

AU - Meng, You

AU - Ho, Johnny C.

PY - 2025/8

Y1 - 2025/8

N2 - 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. © 2025 The Authors

AB - 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. © 2025 The Authors

U2 - 10.1126/sciadv.adu1716

DO - 10.1126/sciadv.adu1716

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

C2 - 40749048

SN - 2375-2548

VL - 11

JO - Science Advances

JF - Science Advances

IS - 31

M1 - eadu1716

ER -

Flexoelectric manipulation of ferroelectric polarization in self-strained tellurium

Abstract

Funding

Publisher's Copyright Statement

RGC Funding Information

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Projects

NSFC-CRS: 1D van der Waals Atomic Chains for 3D-integrated Retinomorphic Optoelectronics

ITF: Brain-inspired Kinetic Oxide Nanowires Artificial Visual Neurons

TBRS-ExtU-Lead: Diamond-based Multi-modal Quantum Sensing of Nanomagnetism

Cite this