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The study of the properties of ferroelectric materials against irradiation has a long history. However, anti−irradiation research on the ferroelectric domain has not been carried out. In this paper, the irradiation of switched domain structure is innovatively proposed. The switched domain of 700 nm lithium niobate (LiNbO3, LN) thin film remains stable after gamma irradiation from 1 krad to 10 Mrad, which was prepared by piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). In addition, the changing law of domain wall resistivity is explored through different sample voltages, and it is verified that the irradiated domain wall conductivity is still larger than the domain. This domain wall current (DWC) property can be applied to storage, logic, sensing, and other devices. Based on these, a ferroelectric domain irradiation resistance model is established, which explains the reason at an atomic level. The results open a possibility for exploiting ferroelectric materials as the foundation in the application of space and nuclear fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a cutting-edge technology, animal robots based on living organisms are being extensively studied, with potential for diverse applications in the fields of neuroscience, national security, and civil rescue. However, it remains a significant challenge to reliably control the animal robots with the objective of protecting their long-term survival, and this has seriously hindered their practical implementation. To address this issue, this work explored the use of a bio-friendly neurostimulation system that includes integrated stimulation electrodes together with a remote wireless stimulation circuit to control the moving behavior of rat robots. The integrated electrodes were implanted simultaneously in four stimulation sites, including the medial forebrain bundle (MFB) and primary somatosensory cortex, barrel field (S1BF). The control system was able to provide flexibility in adjusting the following four stimulation parameters: waveform, amplitude, frequency, and duration time. The optimized parameters facilitated the successful control of the rat's locomotion, including forward movement and left and right turns. After training for a few cycles, the rat robots could be guided along a designated route to complete the given mission in a maze. Moreover, it was found that the rat robots could survive for more than 20 days with the control system implanted. These findings will ensure the sustained and reliable operation of the rat robots, laying a robust foundation for advances in animal robot regulation technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium niobate (LiNbO 3 ) single crystals are a kind of ferroelectric material with a high piezoelectric coefficient and Curie temperature, which is suitable for the preparation of piezoelectric pressure sensors. However, there is little research reporting on the use of LiNbO 3 single crystals to prepare piezoelectric pressure sensors. Therefore, in this paper, LiNbO 3 was used to prepare piezoelectric pressure sensors to study the feasibility of using LiNbO 3 single crystals as a sensitive material for piezoelectric pressure sensors. In addition, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) technology was used to prepare LiNbO 3 crystals with different thicknesses to study the influence of these LiNbO 3 crystals on the electric charge output of the sensors. The results showed that the sensitivity of a 300 μm sample (0.218 mV kPa -1 ) was about 1.23 times that of a 500 μm sample (0.160 mV kPa -1 ). Low-temperature polymer heterogeneous integration and oxygen plasma activation technologies were used to realize the heterogeneous integration of LiNbO 3 and silicon to prepare piezoelectric pressure sensors, which could significantly improve the sensitivity of the sensor by approximately 16.06 times (2.569 mV kPa -1 ) that of the original sample (0.160 mV kPa -1 ) due to an appropriate residual stress that did not shatter LiNbO 3 or silicon, thus providing a possible method for integrating piezoelectric pressure sensors and integrated circuits., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)