Our chair congratulates Dr.-Ing. Seyfert on the successful defence of his dissertation. The dissertation, supervised by Prof. Gabriele Schrag and Prof. Norbert Schwesinger, is entitled ‘Evaluation of the direct and indirect flexoelectric effect in inorganic and organic dielectrics’ and systematically investigates the coupling between mechanical strain gradients and electrical polarisation.

This work focused on the direct flexoelectric effects using piezoelectric and non-piezoelectric polymer films, specifically polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and the inverse (indirect) flexoelectric effect in inorganic piezoelectric materials, specifically lead zirconate titanate (PZT). For this purpose, measurement setups were developed that make it possible to generate the effects and distinguish them from other polarisation effects.

The results contribute to the fundamental characterisation of electromechanical coupling effects and are relevant for the development of microsystem sensors and actuators.