Conformal Ordered Solid–Liquid Coupled Piezoelectric Units for Programmable Adaptive Optics

Ordered piezoelectric units are designed to achieve unnaturally large strains and artificial vibrational modes, owing to the synergistic effects of multiple units. However, when interfacing with another physical field, the challenge for ordered piezoelectric units is to achieve precise control of individual unit independently while maintaining a large manipulation range. In this study, conformal ordered solid–liquid coupled piezoelectric units are introduced, which effectively reduce stress transfer by as much as 84% between units via incorporating a liquid phase into each unit. This design allows for the generation of considerable strain levels (up to ɛ_Z = 1.13%) when used with a flexible layer and optimized structure. Hence, these conformal ordered piezoelectric units achieve simultaneous production of large strains and independent electromechanical control for each individual unit. As a practical illustration, a biomimetic piezoelectric adaptive lens and a lens array based on solid–liquid coupled piezoelectric units are designed and fabricated. They offer an extensive zoom range from 100.3 mm to infinity, ultra-high diopter sensitivity of 70 D mV⁻¹, ultra-rapid response time of 50 µs, and programmable optical focusing through individual manipulation of each unit. This research paves the way for inspiring new designs for piezoelectric metamaterials and devices for intelligent electromechanical systems.