Any dielectric material under a strain gradient presents flexoelectricity. Here, we synthesized 0.75 sodium bismuth titanate −0.25 strontium titanate (NBT-25ST) core–shell nanoparticles via a solid-state chemical reaction directly inside a transmission electron microscope (TEM) and observed domain-like nanoregions (DLNRs) up to an extreme temperature of 800 °C. We attribute this abnormal phenomenon to a chemically induced lattice strain gradient present in the core–shell nanoparticle. The strain gradient was generated by controlling the diffusion of strontium cations. By combining electrical biasing and temperature-dependent in situ TEM with phase field simulations, we analyzed the resulting strain gradient and local polarization distribution within a single nanoparticle. The analysis confirms that a local symmetry breaking, occurring due to a strain gradient (i.e. flexoelectricity), accounts for switchable polarization beyond the conventional temperature range of existing polar materials. We demonstrate that polar nanomaterials can be obtained through flexoelectricity at extreme temperature by tuning the cation diffusion.

In situ stiffness adjustment in microelectromechanical systems is used in a variety of applications such as radio-frequency mechanical filters, energy harvesters, atomic force microscopy, vibration detection sensors. In this review we provide designers with an overview of existing stiffness adjustment methods, their working principle, and possible adjustment range. The concepts are categorized according to their physical working principle. It is concluded that the electrostatic adjustment principle is the most applied method, and narrow to wide ranges in stiffness can be achieved. But in order to obtain a wide range in stiffness change, large, complex devices were designed. Mechanical stiffness adjustment is found to be a space-effective way of obtaining wide changes in stiffness, but these methods are often discrete and require large tuning voltages. Stiffness adjustment through stressing effects or change in Young's modulus was used only for narrow ranges. The change in second moment of inertia was used for stiffness adjustment in the intermediate range.