piezoelectric effect

piezoelectric effect (pīē'zōĭlĕk`trĭk), voltage produced between surfaces of a solid dielectric (nonconducting substance) when a mechanical stress is applied to it. A small current may be produced as well. The effect, discovered by Pierre Curie in 1883, is exhibited by certain crystals, e.g., quartz and Rochelle salt, and ceramic materials. When a voltage is applied across certain surfaces of a solid that exhibits the piezoelectric effect, the solid undergoes a mechanical distortion. Piezoelectric materials are used in transducers, e.g., phonograph cartridges, microphones, and strain gauges, which produce an electrical output from a mechanical input, and in earphones and ultrasonic radiators, which produce a mechanical output from an electrical input. Piezoelectric solids typically resonate within narrowly defined frequency ranges; when suitably mounted they can be used in electric circuits as components of highly selective filters or as frequency-control devices for very stable oscillators.

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piezoelectric effect, piezoelectricity

Physics

a. the production of electricity or electric polarity by applying a mechanical stress to certain crystals

b. the converse effect in which stress is produced in a crystal as a result of an applied potential difference

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piezoelectric effect [pē¦ā·zō·ə′lek·trik i′fekt]

(solid-state physics)

The generation of electric polarization in certain dielectric crystals as a result of the application of mechanical stress.

The reverse effect, in which application of a voltage between certain faces of the crystal produces a mechanical distortion of the material.