Photostrictive Effect: Characterization Techniques,Materials, and Applications

Photostrictive effect exhibits a fascinating ability to directly convert light into mechanical strain, which enables a facile and straightforward approach to realize the wireless and remote control of the micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). It provides a great potential to upgrade the existing electric-driven mechanical devices to optomechanical devices by replacing or integrating electrostriction, piezoelectric effect, or magnetostriction. Although this effect can be dated back to the 1960s, it should not be overlooked as a unique photophysical phenomenon. Especially in the passing decade, it has regained widespread attention, triggered by the emerging characterization techniques and new material systems, as well as the booming progress of MEMS. The recent progress of this fast-growing field is summarized by emphasizing the up-to-date characterization techniques and several new material systems. Furthermore, the potential applications of the photostrictive effect are also comprehensively reviewed. It is hoped that this article will promote the development of photostrictive effect, to not only deepen the research on the underlying mechanisms, but also accelerate the exploration of high-performance photostrictive materials, so as to meet the upcoming challenges faced by light as a major energy source in the foreseeable future.