Separate control of direct and converse piezoelectric effects in flexoelectric piezoelectric composites

The fabrication of piezoelectric composites driven by the flexoelectric charge separation has aroused considerable interest recently. In earlier oral presentations, we have posited that, in such composites, even though the direct and the converse flexoelectric effects are thermodynamically equivalent, it is possible to separately control the direct and converse piezoelectricities. Here, we would like to demonstrate how this separation can be accomplished through the control of the texture symmetry and that the result does not violate reciprocity as two different phases are involved in those two effects. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.