With exciting functionality, topological defects in ferroic system have attracted significant attention. Under proper design, the emergence of polar domain walls in non-polar ferroelastics enables a flexo-phototronic effect. In this study, we revealed ferroelastic twin texture with localized flexoelectric effect in centrosymmetric epitaxial BiVO4 film. Supported by photodeposition and localized photocurrent analysis, we found the flexoelectric effect confined at domain wall area facilitates the photocarrier transport and the flexo-phototronic mechanism was further supported by dye-degradation and generation of reactive radicals. This work not only provides new insights into the introduction of flexo-phototronic effects in non-polar materials, but also sheds light on the use of material inhomogeneity for acquiring multifunctionality.
NSTL
Elsevier