journal article·2026-07-03Open access

Electrically Tunable Piezotronic Transistor by Coupling Interface Polar Symmetry and Strain Gradient

Gongwei Hu, Xiaoming Dong, Yihan Zhang, Yong Chao, Menglu Li, Min Liu, Liqing Pan, Lijie Li, Wei Huang, Fobao Huang

Abstract

ABSTRACT Piezotronics, which enables mechanical stimuli to actively shape adaptive and seamless interactions between electronic systems and ambient environments, is becoming increasingly valuable in the Internet of Things, human‐machine interfaces, and wearable electronics. Interface‐dominated polarization underpins efficient electromechanical transduction in piezotronic sensors; however, it enforces limited performance tunability and hampers multifunctional applications. Here, we use a macroscale tip‐induced strain gradient to trigger a bulk‐dominated polarization in GaN for realizing a tunable piezotronic effect. Such a mechanism uses interface polar symmetry and shielding of bulk piezo‐charges to drive an electrical switching between high‐ and low‐strain sensitivity states. The tunability is preserved across different indenter sizes, while spherical tips with larger radii further enhance the modulation and tuning range due to strain‐gradient size effects. Our piezotronic device has a wide sensitivity tunability window of 24 403, a large pressure sensitivity of 223.2 meV·MPa −1 , and ultrahigh strain sensitivity of 1.43 × 10 8 . Moreover, the piezotronic device shows exceptional mechanical durability up to 10 000 loading cycles and preserves electrical tunability even under dynamic operation. This study enriches piezotronic physics by uncovering the cooperative roles of bulk polarization and interface symmetry in transport modulation, and establishes a viable strategy for continuous and wide‐range performance tunability in a single mechanical sensor.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials · 2D Materials and Applications · Innovative Energy Harvesting Technologies

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Hubei Engineering Research Center of Weak Magnetic‐Field Detection College of Mathematics and Physics China Three Gorges University Yichang China

State Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics (LoFE) & School of Integrated Circuits (School of Microelectronics) Northwestern Polytechnical University Xi'an China

Shenzhen Research Insititute of Northwestern Polytechnical University Shenzhen China

Yangtze River Delta Research Institute of Northwestern Polytechnical University Taicang China

Faculty of Science and Engineering Swansea University Swansea UK

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China · Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province · Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province

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