https://phys.org/news/2018-10-pressure-unconventional-crystal-interface.html

The research is detailed in "Defect-engineered epitaxial VO2±δ in strain engineering of heterogeneous soft crystals," published in a recent edition of Science Advances.

Previous research using strain to alter semiconductor properties has focused on developing a coherent epitaxial interface between the film and substrate to transfer the strain from substrate to the film. For example, in elastic strain engineering, people grow germanium on silicon, oxides on oxides, chalcogenides on chalcogenides.