Strong tribo-piezoelectric effect in bilayer indium nitride (InN)

Abstract The high electronegativity between the atoms of two-dimensional (2D) group-III nitrides makes them attractive to demonstrating a strong out-of-plane piezo-electricity effect. Energy harvesting devices can be predicted by cultivating such salient piezoelectric features. This work explores the tribo-piezoelectric properties of 2D-indium nitride (InN) as a promising candidate in nanogenerator applications by means of first-principles calculations. In-plane interlayer sliding between two InN monolayers leads to a noticeable rise of vertical piezoelectricity. The vertical resistance between the InN bilayer renders tribological energy by the sliding effect. During the vertical sliding, a shear strength of 6.6–9.7 GPa is observed between the monolayers. The structure can be used as a tribo-piezoelectric transducer to extract force and stress from the generated out-of-plane tribo-piezoelectric energy.…