Bending of PN junctions in flexoelectric semiconductors

In this paper, electromechanical fields and carrier distributions in a PN junction with coupling to bending deformation are investigated. Based on the macroscopic theory of flexoelectricity and the semiconductor drift-diffusion theory, a one-dimensional model of the PN junction is developed. The effects of doping level, flexoelectric coefficient and material constants on electrons and holes at the equilibrium state are analyzed. The I-V characteristic of the PN junction under the bias voltage is also obtained. The flexoelectric field is demonstrated to affect the built-in electric field of the PN junction and the carrier distributions in the p-doped and n-doped regions, suggesting an avenue for performance tuning of PN junctions.