Piezoelectric effects in cholesteric elastomer gels

Abstract
We report a piezoelectric effect in cholesteric liquid crystalline elastomer gels. When we apply a shear stress to a cholesteric elastomer gel in the direction perpendicular to its helical axis, a polarization can be induced in the direction perpendicular to both the stress and the helix. This experimental observation agrees with the theory proposed by Pelcovits and Meyer [J. Phys. II France 5, 877 (1995)].