The photomechanical effect is the change in the shape of a material when it is exposed to light. The photomechanical effect was first documented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1880.[1] More recently, Uchino demonstrated that a photostrictive material could be used as legs in the construction of a miniature optically-powered "walker."[2]
The most common mechanism of the photomechanical effect is light-induced heating.