Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 110740 |
| Journal | International Journal of Mechanical Sciences |
| Volume | 305 |
| Early online date | 30 Aug 2025 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Nov 2025 |
Abstract
The miniaturization of electronic devices has intensified the need to tailor material properties at the nanoscale, where flexoelectricity becomes prominent. This paper investigates flexoelectronics—a novel field that harnesses strain gradients and flexoelectric polarization to modulate electronic behavior in semiconductors. Existing models often rely on linearized constitutive relations that fail to capture the behavior of semiconductors under large carrier perturbations. To address this limitation, this work presents a novel computational framework for the fully-coupled physics of flexoelectronics based on isogeometric analysis. The framework robustly models the nonlinear interplay among elasticity, flexoelectric polarization, and carrier transport in PN junctions, overcoming the constraints of traditional linearized approaches. Verification against analytical benchmarks confirms the accuracy of the method. Applications to two-dimensional PN junctions reveal a previously unreported competing mechanism between drift and diffusion currents under flexoelectric modulation. Furthermore, the framework demonstrates that device strain sensitivity is a tunable property that can be optimized by adjusting the junction's position, providing a clear pathway for enhanced flexoelectronic device design.
Keywords
- Computational mechanics, Flexoelectronics, Isogeometric analysis, PN junction, Semiconductor physics, Strain sensitivity
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Engineering(all)
- Civil and Structural Engineering
- Materials Science(all)
- General Materials Science
- Engineering(all)
- Aerospace Engineering
- Physics and Astronomy(all)
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Engineering(all)
- Ocean Engineering
- Engineering(all)
- Mechanics of Materials
- Engineering(all)
- Mechanical Engineering
- Mathematics(all)
- Applied Mathematics
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In: International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, Vol. 305, 110740, 01.11.2025.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Computational flexoelectronics
T2 - A framework for analyzing PN junctions in flexoelectric semiconductors
AU - Hu, Han
AU - Liu, Zhaowei
AU - Liu, Qiong
AU - Jiang, Xiaoning
AU - Zhuang, Xiaoying
AU - Rabczuk, Timon
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Authors
PY - 2025/11/1
Y1 - 2025/11/1
N2 - The miniaturization of electronic devices has intensified the need to tailor material properties at the nanoscale, where flexoelectricity becomes prominent. This paper investigates flexoelectronics—a novel field that harnesses strain gradients and flexoelectric polarization to modulate electronic behavior in semiconductors. Existing models often rely on linearized constitutive relations that fail to capture the behavior of semiconductors under large carrier perturbations. To address this limitation, this work presents a novel computational framework for the fully-coupled physics of flexoelectronics based on isogeometric analysis. The framework robustly models the nonlinear interplay among elasticity, flexoelectric polarization, and carrier transport in PN junctions, overcoming the constraints of traditional linearized approaches. Verification against analytical benchmarks confirms the accuracy of the method. Applications to two-dimensional PN junctions reveal a previously unreported competing mechanism between drift and diffusion currents under flexoelectric modulation. Furthermore, the framework demonstrates that device strain sensitivity is a tunable property that can be optimized by adjusting the junction's position, providing a clear pathway for enhanced flexoelectronic device design.
AB - The miniaturization of electronic devices has intensified the need to tailor material properties at the nanoscale, where flexoelectricity becomes prominent. This paper investigates flexoelectronics—a novel field that harnesses strain gradients and flexoelectric polarization to modulate electronic behavior in semiconductors. Existing models often rely on linearized constitutive relations that fail to capture the behavior of semiconductors under large carrier perturbations. To address this limitation, this work presents a novel computational framework for the fully-coupled physics of flexoelectronics based on isogeometric analysis. The framework robustly models the nonlinear interplay among elasticity, flexoelectric polarization, and carrier transport in PN junctions, overcoming the constraints of traditional linearized approaches. Verification against analytical benchmarks confirms the accuracy of the method. Applications to two-dimensional PN junctions reveal a previously unreported competing mechanism between drift and diffusion currents under flexoelectric modulation. Furthermore, the framework demonstrates that device strain sensitivity is a tunable property that can be optimized by adjusting the junction's position, providing a clear pathway for enhanced flexoelectronic device design.
KW - Computational mechanics
KW - Flexoelectronics
KW - Isogeometric analysis
KW - PN junction
KW - Semiconductor physics
KW - Strain sensitivity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105015521488&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijmecsci.2025.110740
DO - 10.1016/j.ijmecsci.2025.110740
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105015521488
VL - 305
JO - International Journal of Mechanical Sciences
JF - International Journal of Mechanical Sciences
SN - 0020-7403
M1 - 110740
ER -