Abstract
The origin of the anomalous, 400% increase of the piezoelectric coefficient in alloys is revealed. Quantum mechanical calculations show that the effect is intrinsic. It comes from a strong change in the response of the internal atomic coordinates to strain and pronounced softening of elastic constant. The underlying mechanism is the flattening of the energy landscape due to a competition between the parent wurtzite and the so far experimentally unknown hexagonal phases of the alloy. Our observation provides a route for the design of materials with high piezoelectric response.
- Received 31 October 2009
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.137601
©2010 American Physical Society