Photostriction in emerging inorganic materials for next-generation micro-optomechanical devices

Photostrictive effect exhibits a high potential to realize the smart micro-optomechanical devices, which can be operated at a simple principle of direct conversion of light energy into mechanical strain. Unlike electrostrictive and magnetostrictive effects, it does not involve complex circuits, therefore offering a promising prospect of accomplishing the advanced, compact, and remote-control devices. The key step to produce the light-induced strain of practical value is to design highly efficient photostrictive materials. Based upon the nature of the material systems to be explored for micro-optomechanical devices, the photostriction in inorganic–materials-based systems, including semiconductors, transition metal oxides, halide perovskites, and ferroelectrics in bulk and two-dimensions, are summarized herein. For each material, the feasible strategies of compositional engineering, processing conditions, and sample sculpturing, with a special focus on the meticulous tailoring of multiple phase boundaries in representative ferroelectric systems to produce significant photostriction, are given. Since ferroelectric photostriction is accounted as the superposition effect of photovoltaic and inverse piezoelectric effects, both effects are introduced and discussed. Finally, perspectives on future research of photostrictive materials are added. We believe that this review will bring new insights in producing highly efficient photostrictive materials for the commercial production of upcoming state-of-the-art micro optomechanical devices.