Wenzhuo Wu, the Ravi and Eleanor Talwar Rising Star Assistant Professor of Industrial Engineering, served as the co-editor for the “Piezotronics and piezo-phototronics" December 2018 issue. He also co-wrote the Editor's Perspective, titled "Piezotronics and piezo-phototronics with third-generation semiconductors".

ABSTRACT of Editor's Perspective

When uniform strain is applied to noncentrosymmetric semiconductor crystals, which are piezoelectric, static polarization charges are induced at the surface. If the applied strain is not uniform, these charges can even be created inside the crystal. The applied strain affects electronic transport and also photonic processes, and thus can be used to tune the material properties statically or dynamically. As a result, two new fields have emerged, namely piezotronics and piezo-phototronics. This article reviews the history of the two fields and gives a perspective on their applications. The articles in this issue of MRS Bulletin highlight progress in these two fields, and this article places this progress into perspective.

WEBINAR

On December 12, Wu and two other speakers presented talks in a related webinar titled "Piezotronics and Piezophototronics" as part of the MRS On-Demand Webinar Wednesdays series. Piezotronics and piezophototronics are two newly coined fields for third-generation semiconductors that actively couple the strain-induced polarization potential with the mobile charge carrier transport behavior. The fundamental effects are likely to impact the design and fabrication of electronic and photonic devices for mechanosensation, human-machine interfacing, robotics, artificial intelligence, sensors, LEDs, solar cells, and catalysis.

This webinar expanded on the Bulletin issue, and an interactive Q&A session was held with each of the speakers following their talks. The speakers and topics were:

• Piezotronics and piezo-phototronics with third-generation semiconductors
  Zhong Lin Wang, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Piezotronic Sensors
  Till Frömling, Technical University Darmstadt
• 2D Materials for Piezotronics and Piezo-phototronics
  Wenzhuo Wu, Purdue University

The MRS Bulletin is published by the Materials Research Society monthly, and is one of the most widely recognized and highly respected publications in advanced materials research.