Simple strain enhancement

Piezoelectrics Piezoelectric materials are important as sensors and transducers for applications such as ultrasonics. Liu et al. discovered nanopillar regions in a sodium-niobium-oxide film that substantially improve the piezoelectric properties (see the Perspective by Bassiri-Gharb). These nanopillar regions reverse where the cations and anions are located in the crystal structure, with a distinctive boundary in between. This difference in structure results in a strain-sensitive polarity that enhances the piezoelectric properties in a chemically simple material. Science this issue p. [292][1]; see also p. [252][2] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.abb3209 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.abc8007