Zhiqin Chu

New Capabilities

Leading the research group behind the discovery

For more than a century, diamond was classified as nonpiezoelectric — its perfect cubic lattice symmetry meant that squeezing it produced no electrical charge. A team led by the University of Hong Kong just showed that polycrystalline diamond membranes only a few micrometers thick generate a measurable voltage when bent, with a piezoelectric voltage coefficient of 82.2 millivolt-meters per newton, higher than many conventional piezoelectric materials.

Updated 37 minutes ago