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Large linear high-frequency strain by interlocked monoclinic polar nanoregions

Nature Materials volume 25, pages 73–79 (2026)Cite this article

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Abstract

Ferroelectric films with large and linear strains are crucial for precision microactuator applications, especially at high frequencies. However, existing strategies that rely on frequency- and temperature-dependent dynamics have had limited success in enhancing strain response under such conditions. Here, through promoted local strain fluctuation, we achieve an interlocked polar configuration in spin-coated epitaxial (K,Na)NbO3-based ferroelectric films. The films demonstrate high-frequency strains exceeding 1.1% with high linearity and stability even when measured at 105 Hz. The presence of interlocked monoclinic and tetragonal polar nanoregions boosts piezoelectric response by promoting polarization dynamics across a broad frequency range. Additionally, the interplay between two distinct polarization switching mechanisms, arising from different symmetries and boundary conditions, mutually compensates, contributing to the observed overall linearity. This approach presents a promising yet facile strategy for achieving ferroelectric films with reliable, large and linear strain across a wide high-frequency range.

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Fig. 1: Synergistic manipulation of nanopolar configuration by two-stage crystallization.
Fig. 2: Strain, linearity and stability of IM-PNR films.
Fig. 3: Nanopolar configuration of IM-PNR films.
Fig. 4: Voltage-dependent SXRD measurement for in situ structural evolution of IM-PNR films.
Fig. 5: Polarization behaviours under external field by phase-field simulation.

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Data availability

Data generated or analysed during this study are included in the Supplementary Information and are available via figshare at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.29925755 (ref. 48). Source data are provided with this paper. Further data are available from the corresponding authors upon request.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge support from the Basic Science Center Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 52388201) and the Research Project of the State Key Laboratory of New Ceramic Materials (grant no. 2025QHTC-ZZKYB001; J.-F.L.) and from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 12175235 and 2023YFA1406303; Z.L.).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of New Ceramic Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    Yue-Yu-Shan Cheng, Liang Shu, Sixu Wang, Yi-Xuan Liu, Ziqi Yang, Wei Li, Xin Zhang, Liyu Wei, Qian Li & Jing-Feng Li

  2. Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China

    Xiaoming Shi

  3. National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China

    Qingyu He, Yongqi Dong & Zhenlin Luo

  4. Department of Materials, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Yizhe Li, Sarah J. Haigh & David A. Hall

  5. The State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China

    Jin Luo

  6. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China

    Lisha Liu

  7. Laser Materials Processing Research Center, Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials Processing Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    Lizhong Wang & Minlin Zhong

  8. Advanced Research Institute of Multidisciplinary Science, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China

    Houbing Huang

  9. Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials, Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia

    Shujun Zhang

  10. Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, China

    Shujun Zhang

  11. Department of Applied Physics, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Jing-Feng Li

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  1. Yue-Yu-Shan Cheng
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Contributions

J.-F.L. and Y.-Y.-S.C. conceived this study. Y.-Y.-S.C. conducted the experiments. J.-F.L. supervised this study. Y.-Y.-S.C. and X.Z. fabricated the samples and carried out the electrical measurements. Y.D., Q.H. and Z.L. performed and visualized the SXRD experiments. Y.L., J.L., S.J.H., D.A.H. and Z.Y. conducted the STEM and TEM characterizations. S.W., W.L. and Q.L. conducted the SHG measurements. L. Wang, Y.-Y.-S.C. and M.Z. conducted the pMUT device fabrication and measurement. X.S. and H.H. conducted the phase-field simulation. Y.-Y.-S.C. analysed the data with the help of Y.-X.L., L.L., X.Z., L.S. and L. Wei; Y.-Y.-S.C. drafted the paper. S.Z., J.-F.L., Z.L. and X.S. revised the paper. All authors discussed the results and revised the paper.

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Correspondence to David A. Hall, Zhenlin Luo, Shujun Zhang or Jing-Feng Li.

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Cheng, YYS., Shi, X., Shu, L. et al. Large linear high-frequency strain by interlocked monoclinic polar nanoregions. Nat. Mater. 25, 73–79 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02354-z

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