Strain Engineering for Advanced Functional Materials

Mar 4, 2023

Multiphysics & Functional Emergence

As human beings exhibit great power when under great pressure, materials also express potential functions when subjected to mechanical stress. We are challenging to develop new material functions by utilizing the mechanical load.


Cutting-Edge Physical Properties Written by Mechanical Loads

-Functional materials at the forefront of physics from mechanics-


Materials have an infinite number of potential functions. However, the functions of materials that we have today are only a small part of them. How can we unleash the potential of materials?

We have discovered that by applying appropriate “forces” to materials and causing them to deform as intended, we can unlock their latent, hidden, advanced functions. For example, by pushing and loading a localized area of a thin film, it is possible to mechanically create a “special information magnet” called a skyrmion, which acts with a very small magnetic field and current, and is expected to be applied to large capacity and power saving in big data centers. Strained silicon, a technology that dramatically improves electrical performance by applying strain to semiconductors, is already being used in the design of many semiconductor devices, such as the PCs and smartphones you own. The same technology is also used in ferroelectric memory used in Playstation and other devices. In this way, we are developing the science and technology to create and design new physical properties through “force” and “shape”.

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Mechanical Properties Ferroelectricity Magnetism Quantum Transport Nanomaterials Ferroic Materials First-Principles DFT Phase-Field Modeling Finite Element Method
Materials Science Lab
Materials Science Lab
Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University