[{"acknowledged_ssus":[{"_id":"Bio"},{"_id":"M-Shop"}],"quality_controlled":"1","ddc":["530"],"month":"02","publication":"Nature Communications","oa":1,"status":"public","corr_author":"1","publisher":"Springer Nature","article_type":"original","abstract":[{"text":"The exceptional energy-harvesting efficiency of lead-halide perovskites arises from unusually long photocarrier diffusion lengths and recombination lifetimes that persist even in defect-rich, solution-grown samples. Paradoxically, perovskites are also known for having very short exciton decay times. Here, we resolve this apparent contradiction by showing that key optoelectronic properties of perovskites can be explained by localized flexoelectric polarization confined to interfaces between domains of spontaneous strain. Using birefringence imaging, electrochemical staining, and zero-bias photocurrent measurements, we visualize the domain structure and directly probe the associated internal fields in nominally cubic single crystals of methylammonium lead bromide. We demonstrate that localized flexoelectric fields spatially separate electrons and holes to opposite sides of domain walls, exponentially suppressing recombination. Domain walls thus act as efficient mesoscopic transport channels for long-lived photocarriers, microscopically linking structural heterogeneity to charge transport and offering mechanistically informed design principles for perovskite solar-energy technologies.","lang":"eng"}],"acknowledgement":"We are grateful to A. G. Volosniev for the valuable discussions. We thank D. Milius for the assistance with microscopy. D. R. would like to thank F. Filakovský and T. Čuchráč for the valuable discussions. This research was supported by the Scientific Service Units (SSU) of ISTA through resources provided by the Imaging & Optics Facility (IOF) and the Miba Machine Shop Facility (MS).","OA_place":"publisher","tmp":{"legal_code_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode","short":"CC BY (4.0)","name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)","image":"/images/cc_by.png"},"_id":"21382","scopus_import":"1","date_created":"2026-03-02T10:06:58Z","title":"Flexoelectric domain walls enable charge separation and transport in cubic perovskites","citation":{"ista":"Rak D, Lorenc D, Balazs D, Zhumekenov AA, Bakr OM, Alpichshev Z. 2026. Flexoelectric domain walls enable charge separation and transport in cubic perovskites. Nature Communications. 17, 946.","mla":"Rak, Dmytro, et al. “Flexoelectric Domain Walls Enable Charge Separation and Transport in Cubic Perovskites.” <i>Nature Communications</i>, vol. 17, 946, Springer Nature, 2026, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68660-5\">10.1038/s41467-026-68660-5</a>.","short":"D. Rak, D. Lorenc, D. Balazs, A.A. Zhumekenov, O.M. Bakr, Z. Alpichshev, Nature Communications 17 (2026).","chicago":"Rak, Dmytro, Dusan Lorenc, Daniel Balazs, Ayan A. Zhumekenov, Osman M. Bakr, and Zhanybek Alpichshev. “Flexoelectric Domain Walls Enable Charge Separation and Transport in Cubic Perovskites.” <i>Nature Communications</i>. Springer Nature, 2026. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68660-5\">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68660-5</a>.","ieee":"D. Rak, D. Lorenc, D. Balazs, A. A. Zhumekenov, O. M. Bakr, and Z. Alpichshev, “Flexoelectric domain walls enable charge separation and transport in cubic perovskites,” <i>Nature Communications</i>, vol. 17. Springer Nature, 2026.","ama":"Rak D, Lorenc D, Balazs D, Zhumekenov AA, Bakr OM, Alpichshev Z. Flexoelectric domain walls enable charge separation and transport in cubic perovskites. <i>Nature Communications</i>. 2026;17. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68660-5\">10.1038/s41467-026-68660-5</a>","apa":"Rak, D., Lorenc, D., Balazs, D., Zhumekenov, A. A., Bakr, O. M., &#38; Alpichshev, Z. (2026). Flexoelectric domain walls enable charge separation and transport in cubic perovskites. <i>Nature Communications</i>. Springer Nature. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68660-5\">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68660-5</a>"},"volume":17,"article_processing_charge":"Yes","OA_type":"gold","user_id":"ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd","date_published":"2026-02-16T00:00:00Z","language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"department":[{"_id":"ZhAl"},{"_id":"LifeSc"}],"has_accepted_license":"1","file_date_updated":"2026-03-02T14:27:56Z","date_updated":"2026-04-28T12:12:46Z","day":"16","year":"2026","type":"journal_article","publication_identifier":{"eissn":["2041-1723"]},"intvolume":"        17","PlanS_conform":"1","publication_status":"published","article_number":"946","related_material":{"link":[{"relation":"press_release","url":"https://ista.ac.at/en/news/explaining-next-generation-solar-cells/","description":"News on ISTA website"}]},"pmid":1,"DOAJ_listed":"1","external_id":{"pmid":["41698893"]},"oa_version":"Published Version","author":[{"last_name":"Rak","full_name":"Rak, Dmytro","first_name":"Dmytro","id":"70313b46-47c2-11ec-9e88-cd79101918fe"},{"first_name":"Dusan","id":"40D8A3E6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","last_name":"Lorenc","full_name":"Lorenc, Dusan"},{"first_name":"Daniel","id":"302BADF6-85FC-11EA-9E3B-B9493DDC885E","last_name":"Balazs","orcid":"0000-0001-7597-043X","full_name":"Balazs, Daniel"},{"last_name":"Zhumekenov","full_name":"Zhumekenov, Ayan A.","first_name":"Ayan A."},{"first_name":"Osman M.","last_name":"Bakr","full_name":"Bakr, Osman M."},{"id":"45E67A2A-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","first_name":"Zhanybek","full_name":"Alpichshev, Zhanybek","last_name":"Alpichshev","orcid":"0000-0002-7183-5203"}],"file":[{"date_updated":"2026-03-02T14:27:56Z","date_created":"2026-03-02T14:27:56Z","success":1,"creator":"dernst","file_name":"2026_NatureComm_Rak.pdf","file_size":2570918,"file_id":"21390","content_type":"application/pdf","access_level":"open_access","relation":"main_file","checksum":"dd7a98de892d0b5abefca7e290ca0f77"}],"doi":"10.1038/s41467-026-68660-5"},{"arxiv":1,"intvolume":"       135","PlanS_conform":"1","publication_status":"published","article_number":"218202","issue":"21","oa_version":"Published Version","file":[{"relation":"main_file","access_level":"open_access","file_size":1761373,"content_type":"application/pdf","file_id":"20717","checksum":"a5f76b1230cc7b039ecd0dbd6f99e775","success":1,"date_updated":"2025-12-01T08:19:46Z","date_created":"2025-12-01T08:19:46Z","file_name":"2025_PhysReviewLetters_Stoellner.pdf","creator":"dernst"}],"author":[{"first_name":"Andrea","id":"4bdcf7f6-eb97-11eb-a6c2-9981bbdc3bed","orcid":"0000-0002-0464-8440","last_name":"Stöllner","full_name":"Stöllner, Andrea"},{"first_name":"Isaac C","id":"a550210f-223c-11ec-8182-e2d45e817efb","orcid":"0000-0002-5010-6984","last_name":"Lenton","full_name":"Lenton, Isaac C"},{"id":"37D278BC-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","first_name":"Artem","full_name":"Volosniev, Artem","orcid":"0000-0003-0393-5525","last_name":"Volosniev"},{"first_name":"James","last_name":"Millen","full_name":"Millen, James"},{"first_name":"Renjiro","full_name":"Shibuya, Renjiro","last_name":"Shibuya"},{"first_name":"Hisao","full_name":"Ishii, Hisao","last_name":"Ishii"},{"first_name":"Dmytro","id":"70313b46-47c2-11ec-9e88-cd79101918fe","last_name":"Rak","full_name":"Rak, Dmytro"},{"first_name":"Zhanybek","id":"45E67A2A-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","orcid":"0000-0002-7183-5203","last_name":"Alpichshev","full_name":"Alpichshev, Zhanybek"},{"full_name":"David, Grégory","last_name":"David","first_name":"Grégory"},{"first_name":"Ruth","full_name":"Signorell, Ruth","last_name":"Signorell"},{"full_name":"Muller, Caroline J","orcid":"0000-0001-5836-5350","last_name":"Muller","id":"f978ccb0-3f7f-11eb-b193-b0e2bd13182b","first_name":"Caroline J"},{"last_name":"Waitukaitis","orcid":"0000-0002-2299-3176","full_name":"Waitukaitis, Scott R","first_name":"Scott R","id":"3A1FFC16-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87"}],"doi":"10.1103/5xd9-4tjj","related_material":{"link":[{"relation":"press_release","url":"https://ista.ac.at/en/news/trapping-particles-to-explain-lightning/","description":"News on ISTA website"}]},"external_id":{"arxiv":["2507.17591"]},"publisher":"American Physical Society","acknowledgement":"We thank Todor Asenov and Abdulhamid Baghdadi for their outstanding technical support and Dr. Michael Gleichweit and Mercede Azizbaig Mohajer for the helpful discussions. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreements No. 949120 and No. 805041) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF, Project No. 200021-236446). This research was supported by the Scientific Service Units of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) through resources provided by the Miba Machine Shop and the Scientific Computing service unit.","abstract":[{"text":"Optical tweezers are widely used as a highly sensitive tool to measure forces on micron-scale particles. One such application is the measurement of the electric charge of a particle, which can be done with high precision in liquids, air, or vacuum. We experimentally investigate how the trapping laser itself can electrically charge such a particle, in our case a ∼1  μ⁢m SiO2 sphere in air. We model the charging mechanism as a two-photon process which reproduces the experimental data with high fidelity.","lang":"eng"}],"article_type":"original","ec_funded":1,"date_created":"2025-11-30T23:02:07Z","scopus_import":"1","tmp":{"legal_code_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode","short":"CC BY (4.0)","name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)","image":"/images/cc_by.png"},"_id":"20705","OA_place":"publisher","acknowledged_ssus":[{"_id":"M-Shop"},{"_id":"ScienComp"}],"ddc":["530","550"],"quality_controlled":"1","status":"public","oa":1,"month":"11","publication":"Physical Review Letters","corr_author":"1","language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"date_published":"2025-11-21T00:00:00Z","department":[{"_id":"ZhAl"},{"_id":"CaMu"},{"_id":"ScWa"}],"has_accepted_license":"1","day":"21","date_updated":"2026-04-28T13:09:27Z","file_date_updated":"2025-12-01T08:19:46Z","type":"journal_article","publication_identifier":{"eissn":["1079-7114"],"issn":["0031-9007"]},"year":"2025","citation":{"ista":"Stöllner A, Lenton IC, Volosniev A, Millen J, Shibuya R, Ishii H, Rak D, Alpichshev Z, David G, Signorell R, Muller CJ, Waitukaitis SR. 2025. Using optical tweezers to simultaneously trap, charge, and measure the charge of a microparticle in air. Physical Review Letters. 135(21), 218202.","mla":"Stöllner, Andrea, et al. “Using Optical Tweezers to Simultaneously Trap, Charge, and Measure the Charge of a Microparticle in Air.” <i>Physical Review Letters</i>, vol. 135, no. 21, 218202, American Physical Society, 2025, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/5xd9-4tjj\">10.1103/5xd9-4tjj</a>.","short":"A. Stöllner, I.C. Lenton, A. Volosniev, J. Millen, R. Shibuya, H. Ishii, D. Rak, Z. Alpichshev, G. David, R. Signorell, C.J. Muller, S.R. Waitukaitis, Physical Review Letters 135 (2025).","apa":"Stöllner, A., Lenton, I. C., Volosniev, A., Millen, J., Shibuya, R., Ishii, H., … Waitukaitis, S. R. (2025). Using optical tweezers to simultaneously trap, charge, and measure the charge of a microparticle in air. <i>Physical Review Letters</i>. American Physical Society. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/5xd9-4tjj\">https://doi.org/10.1103/5xd9-4tjj</a>","chicago":"Stöllner, Andrea, Isaac C Lenton, Artem Volosniev, James Millen, Renjiro Shibuya, Hisao Ishii, Dmytro Rak, et al. “Using Optical Tweezers to Simultaneously Trap, Charge, and Measure the Charge of a Microparticle in Air.” <i>Physical Review Letters</i>. American Physical Society, 2025. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/5xd9-4tjj\">https://doi.org/10.1103/5xd9-4tjj</a>.","ama":"Stöllner A, Lenton IC, Volosniev A, et al. Using optical tweezers to simultaneously trap, charge, and measure the charge of a microparticle in air. <i>Physical Review Letters</i>. 2025;135(21). doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/5xd9-4tjj\">10.1103/5xd9-4tjj</a>","ieee":"A. Stöllner <i>et al.</i>, “Using optical tweezers to simultaneously trap, charge, and measure the charge of a microparticle in air,” <i>Physical Review Letters</i>, vol. 135, no. 21. American Physical Society, 2025."},"title":"Using optical tweezers to simultaneously trap, charge, and measure the charge of a microparticle in air","volume":135,"project":[{"call_identifier":"H2020","_id":"0aa60e99-070f-11eb-9043-a6de6bdc3afa","name":"Tribocharge: a multi-scale approach to an enduring problem in physics","grant_number":"949120"},{"call_identifier":"H2020","_id":"629205d8-2b32-11ec-9570-e1356ff73576","name":"Organization of CLoUdS, and implications of Tropical  cyclones and for the Energetics of the tropics, in current and waRming climate","grant_number":"805041"}],"article_processing_charge":"Yes (via OA deal)","OA_type":"hybrid","user_id":"ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd"}]