Data for Flexo-photovoltaic effect

Here, we report that the bulk photovoltaic effect, which is free from the thermodynamic Shockley-Queisser limit but usually manifested only in noncentrosymmetric (piezoelectric or ferroelectric) materials, can be realized in any semiconductor, including silicon, by mediation of flexoelectric effect. We introduce strain gradients using either an atomic force microscope or a micron-scale indentation system, creating giant photovoltaic currents from centrosymmetric single crystals of SrTiO3, TiO2, and Si.

This strain-gradient-induced bulk photovoltaic effect, which we call the flexo-photovoltaic effect, functions in the absence of a p-n junction. This finding may extend present solar cell technologies by boosting the solar energy conversion efficiency from a wide pool of established semiconductors.<br><br>Excel and Mathematica files for figures 1,2, 3, 4, S2, S3, S4, S5, S9, S9, S11, S12, S13, S14, S15