ABSTRACT
Electrostriction is the basic electromechanical coupling mechanism in centric crystals and amorphous solids. It
has been recognized as the primary electromechanical coupling in centric materials since early in the twentieth
century (Cady, 1929). Electrostriction is the quadratic coupling between the strain developed in a material and
the electric field applied, and it exists in all insulating materials. Piezoelectricity is a better-known linear
coupling mechanism that exists only in materials without a center of symmetry.
