Analytical method to determine flexoelectric coupling coefficient at nanoscale

Flexoelectricity is defined as the coupling between the strain gradient and polarization, which is expected to be remarkable at nanoscale. However, measuring the flexoelectricity at nanoscale is challenging. In the present work, an analytical method for measuring the flexoelectric coupling coefficient based on nanocompression technique is proposed. It is found that the flexoelectricity can induce stiffness softening of the dielectric nano-cone-frustum. This phenomenon becomes more significant when the sample size decreases or the half cone angle increases. This method avoids measuring the electric polarization or current at nanoscale with dynamical loading, which can be beneficial to the flexoelectric measurement at nanoscale and design of flexoelectric nanodevices. (C) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC.