EL E CT RO P H YS ICS I

PHY201
DR. A. O. OJOBEAGU
 COURSE OUTLINE
•DESCRIBE THE PRODUCTION OF PIEZOELECTRICITY AND ITS PUTATIVE THERAPEUTIC APPLICATIONS.
•ELEMENTARY KINEMATICS.
•NEWTON’S LAWS OF MOTION.
•STATIC FORCES ACTING ON A HUMAN BODY.
•MOMENTUM CONSERVATION; APPLICATION TO CONTUSION AND FRACTURE DURING IMPACTS, AND TO SIMILAR MEDICAL
SITUATIONS.
•ELECTROMECHANICAL ENERGY —WAVE MOTION.
•REFLECTION AND REFRACTION OF WAVES.
•POLARIZATION OF WAVES.
•MOLECULES AND CELLS.
•MESOSCOPIC FORCES.
•PHASE TRANSITIONS.
•MOTILITY.
•AGGREGATING SELF-ASSEMBLY.
•SURFACE PHENOMENA.
• BIOMACROMOLECULES, CHARGED IONS AND POLYMERS
PIEZOELECTRICITY

LECTURE 1
 INTRODUCTION
TECHNICAL APPLICATION OF PIEZOELECTRICITY PHENOMENON FIRST DISCOVERED BY
PIERRE AND JACQUES CURIE AND JACQUES CURIE IN 1880 AND THEREAFTER SOON
UNDERSTOOD FROM THE CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC POINT OF VIEW HAD A VERY SLOW START
BECAUSE FOR DECADES ONLY A FEW SUITABLE MATERIALS WERE AVAILABLE. IN SPITE OF
THEIR SMALL PIEZOELECTRIC EFFECT, QUARTZ CRYSTALS CONTINUE TO DOMINATE AS
COMPONENTS FOR FREQUENCY CONTROL SINCE THE EARLY DAYS OF RADIO ENGINEERING,
THIS IS DUE TO THEIR EXTREMELY SHARP RESONANCE CURVES, WHICH ARE STABLE WITH
RESPECT TO TEMPERATURE AND AGING. THE FIRST FERROELECTRIC MATERIAL, ROCHELLE
SALT WAS FOUND OUT TO THE SUITABLE FOR BROADBAND APPLICATIONS IN THE YEAR
1920.STABILITY PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED WITH THESE CRYSTALS, WHICH ARE PRODUCED
FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS, RESTRICT THEIR APPLICATION TO PHONOGRAPH PICK-UPS.
DEFINITION
PIEZOELECTRICITY IS THE ADDITIONAL CREATION OF AN ELECTRIC CHARGE BY
THE APPLIED STRESS; THIS IS THE DIRECT PIEZOELECTRIC EFFECT. THE CHARGE
IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE FORCE, AND IT IS THEREFORE OF OPPOSITE SIGN FOR
COMPRESSION AND TENSION. IN TERMS OF DIELECTRIC DISPLACEMENT D
(CHARGE Q PER UNIT AREA A) AND STRESS T, IT MAY BE WRITTEN AS.

THERE IS A CONVERSE EFFECT. AN APPLIED FIELD E PRODUCES A PROPORTIONAL

STRAIN S, EXPANSION OR CONTRACTION DEPENDING ON POLARITY.
THEREFORE, THE PIEZOELECTRIC CONSTANT ‘D’ (PIEZOELECTRIC STRAIN
COEFFICIENT) WHICH IS NUMERICALLY IDENTICAL FOR BOTH DIRECT AND CONVERSE
EFFECTS.

ANOTHER FREQUENTLY USED PIEZOELECTRIC CONSTANT IS G (PIEZOELECTRIC

VOLTAGE COEFFICIENT), WHICH GIVE THE FIELD PRODUCED BY A STRESS AND IS
RELATED TO THE ‘D’ CONSTANT BY THE PERMITTIVITY ().

ADDITIONAL PIEZOELECTRIC CONSTANTS WHICH OCCASIONALLY USED ARE ‘E’

WHICH RELATES STRESS T TO FIELD E, AND ‘H’ WHICH RELATES STRAIN S TO FIELD
E.
ACTUAL DEFINITIONS ARE

FOR CERAMICS AND CRYSTALS THE ELASTIC, DIELECTRIC AND PIEZOELECTRIC

CONSTANTS MAY DIFFER ALONG DIFFERENT AXES. FOR THIS REASON, THEY
ARE EXPRESSED IN TENSOR FORM.
POSSIBLY THE BEST SINGLE MEASUREMENT OF THE STRENGTH OF A
PIEZOELECTRIC EFFECT IS THE ELECTROMECHANICAL COUPLING FACTOR K.
WHEN AN ELECTRIC FIELD IS APPLIED, IT MEASURES THE FRACTION OF THE
ELECTRICAL ENERGY CONVERTED TO MECHANICAL ENERGY (OR VICE VERSA
WHEN A CRYSTAL OR CERAMIC IS STRESSED). THE ACTUAL RELATIONSHIP IS IN
TERMS OF K2
THE PIEZOELECTRIC, ELASTIC AND DIELECTRIC CONSTANTS OF POLED
CERAMICS ARE STRONGLY TEMPERATURE DEPENDENT. HEATING THROUGH
THE CURIE POINT DESTROYS THE EFFECT OF POLING AND CAUSES THE
PIEZOELECTRIC PROPERTIES TO DISAPPEAR. IF THE SAMPLE IS HEATED TO
JUST BELOW THE CURIE POINT THE PIEZOELECTRIC PROPERTIES ARE
DEGRADED. A REMANANT PIEZOELECTRIC EFFECT PRODUCED BY POLLING
AN INITIALLY RANDOM ORIENTATION CERAMIC IS A STRONG EVIDENCE FOR
FERROELECTRICITY 900 WALLS CONTRIBUTE TO THE PIEZOELECTRIC EFFECT
SINCE THEIR MOVEMENT IS ACCOMPANIED BY DIMENSIONAL CHANGE AND
NOT 1800 WALLS BECAUSE THERE WILL BE NO DIMENSIONAL CHANGE.
FERROELECTRIC MATERIALS WITH HIGH CURIE TEMPERATURE ARE HIGHLY
DESIRABLE TO CONSTRUCT TRANSDUCERS FOR HIGH TEMPERATURE
PIEZOELECTRIC APPLICATIONS.
 PIEZOELECTRICITY
CERTAIN CRYSTALS BECOME ELECTRICALLY POLARIZED (I.E ELECTRIC CHARGES APPEAR ON THEIR
SURFACES) WHEN STRESSED. THIS PHENOMENON DISCOVERED IN 1800 BY PIERRE AND J. CURIE
IS CALLED THE PIEZOELECTRIC EFFECT AND THE CRYSTALS AS THE PIEZOELECTRIC CRYSTALS
QUARTZ, ROCHELLE SALT, TOURMALINE ARE THE FAMILIAR PIEZOELECTRIC SUBSTANCES. THE
INVERSE EFFECT--THAT THESE CRYSTALS BECOME STRAINED WHEN POLARIZED HAS ALSO BEEN
OBSERVED.
PIEZOELECTRIC STRAINS ARE VERY SMALL, AND THE CORRESPONDING ELECTRIC FIELDS ARE
VERY LARGE. IN QUARTZ FOR EXAMPLE A FIELD OF 1000 V/CM PRODUCES A STRAIN OF THE
ORDER OF 10−7. CONVERSELY SMALL STRAINS CAN PRODUCE LARGE ELECTRIC FIELDS.
IT FOLLOWS THAT THE PIEZOELECTRIC EFFECT IS RELATED TO CRYSTAL SYMMETRY. THE
SYMMETRY ELEMENT INVOLVED IS ESSENTIALLY THE CENTER OF INVERSION. A CRYSTAL CAN
EXHIBIT PIEZOELECTRIC EFFECT ONLY IF ITS UNIT CELL LACKS A CENTER OF INVERSION. THIS IS
BECAUSE WHEN THERE IS NO CENTER OF INVERSION, ONLY THEN THE CHARGE DISTRIBUTION IS
DISTORTED SO AS TO PRODUCE POLARIZATION. HOWEVER IF THE CENTER OF INVERSION IS
PRESENT, THERE IS NO CHARGE DISTORTION HENCE NO POLARIZATION.
IT CAN BE PROVED THAT OF THE 32 CRYSTAL CLASSES, 21 ARE NON CENTRO
SYMMETRICAL BUT SINCE ONE OF THESE 21 IS HIGHLY SYMMETRIC IN OTHER
RESPECTS, IT IS PIEZOELECTRICALLY EXCLUDED, LEAVING ONLY 20 PIEZOELECTRIC
CLASSES. HOWEVER, ALL CRYSTALS BELONGING TO THESE 20 CLASSES ARE NOT
OBSERVABLY PIEZOELECTRIC - IN SOME CRYSTALS THE PIEZOELECTRIC EFFECTS ARE
TOO SMALL TO BE DETECTABLE. THUS, THE LACK OF INVERSION CENTER IS A
NECESSARY BUT NOT SUFFICIENT CONDITION TO GUARANTEE PIEZOELECTRICITY.
PIEZOELECTRIC EFFECT IS EXTENSIVELY USED TO CONVERT THE ELECTRIC ENERGY
INTO MECHANICAL ENERGY AND VICE-VERSA I.E. THE PIEZOELECTRIC SUBSTANCES
ARE USED AS ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS. FOR INSTANCE IT IS AN
ELECTRIC SIGNAL THAT IS APPLIED TO ONE END OF A QUARTZ ROD, THE VARIATIONS
IN STRAIN GENERATED IN THE ROD IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE EFFECT PROPAGATE
DOWN THE ROD CONSTITUTING WHAT IS KNOWN AS MECHANICAL WAVE OR AN
ACOUSTIC WAVE. ANOTHER IMPORTANT APPLICATION OF PIEZOELECTRICS IS THEIR
USE AS HIGHLY STABLE OSCILLATORS FOR FREQUENCY CONTROL
 PIEZOELECTRICITY IS CURRENTLY ENJOYING A GREAT
RESURGENCE IN BOTH FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH AND
TECHNICAL APPLICATIONS.
PIEZOELECTRICITY IS ONE OF THE BASIC PROPERTIES OF CRYSTALS,
CERAMICS POLYMERS AND LIQUID CRYSTALS. THERE ARE SEVERAL WAYS TO
DESCRIBE THE PIEZOELECTRIC EFFECT. PERHAPS THE MOST COMMON
DEFINITION IS THAT A MATERIAL IS PIEZOELECTRIC IF THE APPLICATION OF
AN EXTERNAL MECHANICAL STRESS CAUSES THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN
INTERNAL DIELECTRIC DISPLACEMENT. THIS DISPLACEMENT IS MANIFESTED
AS AN INTERNAL ELECTRIC POLARIZATION OR A SURFACE ELECTRIC CHARGE
BECAUSE OF THE WAY IN WHICH THE ELASTIC STRESS AND DIELECTRIC
DISPLACEMENT TRANSFORM DURING COORDINATE AXIS ROTATION (
FIGURE 1) THE PIEZOELECTRIC CONSTANTS DESCRIBING THE LINEAR
RELATIONSHIP FORM A THIRD ORDER TENSOR. A SIMPLIFIED MATHEMATICAL
FORMULATION OF THE PIEZOELECTRIC EFFECT IS GIVEN BELOW. MORE
DETAIL TREATMENTS OF THE PIEZOELECTRIC EFFECT AND CONVERSE
EFFECT CAN BE FOUND IN TEXTS.
THE PIEZOELECTRIC PHENOMENON CAN BE DESCRIBED AS.

PIEZOELECTRIC MATERIALS THAT ARE CURRENTLY RECEIVING MUCH SCIENTIFIC

ATTENTION INCLUDE PIEZOELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTORS, SUCH AS GALLIUM
ARSENIDE, WHICH HAVE A WIDE RANGE OF INTERESTING PROPERTIES. AN EXISTING
GOAL WITH THESE MATERIALS IS TO INTEGRATE THE PIEZO DEVICE AND THE
SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS ON THE SAME SUBSTRATE. THE LAST DECADE HAS
WITNESSED AN EXPLOSIVE EXPANSION IN RESEARCH ON SURFACE ACOUSTIC
WAVES. MOST RECENTLY, THE RESEARCH HAS CONCENTRATED ON LAYERED
SYSTEMS CONTAINING PIEZOELECTRICS. ANOTHER IMPORTANT APPLICATION OF
SURFACE ACOUSTIC WAVES HAS BEEN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MINIATURE HIGH-
FREQUENCY “BULK STRUCTURE” FILTERS USING LITHIUM NIOBATE AND LITHIUM
TANTALATE CRYSTALS FOR USE IN CONSUMER ELECTRONIC APPLICATIONS.
 Applications of piezoelectricity
Piezoelectric effect works with sensors and motors
To start with, the electric cigarette lighters and gas grills have a high voltage
power source when compared with other applications of the piezoelectric
effect. In these cases, a hammer strikes a piece of piezo material, which then
produces enough current to create a spark that ignites the flammable gas in
its presence. However, in other applications like sensors, the hammer is
typically replaced by other forms of energy like sound waves - including
ultrasound, as hammer is an exciter of the piezo material.
When these are working with sensors, piezo materials will detect even some
of the minute disturbances and anomalies, which will make them unique and
idealistic devices in industrial nondestructive testing and medical imaging.
In the other perspective, piezoelectric motors can perform highly precise and
repeatable movements. This inbuilt makes them excellent devices (Figure 2)
for the precision movements of sensitive optical devices like telescopes and
microscopes.
Piezoelectric sensors in industrial applications
The industrial sector contributes its applications with piezoelectric sensors for a
variety of uses. Some common, everyday uses include:
a. Engine knock sensors: Engine manufacturers are every now and then facing
challenges related to the control of engine devices. Under some non-supporting
situations, gasoline engines are susceptible to an undesirable phenomenon known
as detonation. When the process of detonation occurs, the air/fuel charge explodes
instead of burning smoothly thereby damaging the engine. Eventually, this is why
the designed engines with conservative operational margins at the expense of
efficiency — it was to avoid this notorious problem.
b. Pressure sensors: In almost all the applications the measurement of dynamic
pressure changes, using piezoelectric pressure sensors yields more reliable results
than using conventional electromechanical pressure sensors
c. Sonar equipment: Sonar Equipment depends especially on piezoelectric
sensors to transmit and receive ultrasonic “pings” in the 50-200 kHz range. Along
with an ideal frequency response for such applications, piezoelectric transducers
have a high power density that enables large amounts of acoustic power to be
transmitted from a small package. For instance, a transducer that is only 4″
(100 mm) in diameter may be capable of handling power output greater than 500
watts.
 Applications in Medicine
• Ultrasonic cleaning
Piezoelectric Actuators also contribute to ultrasonic cleaning
applications. To perform ultrasonic cleaning, objects are
immersed in a solvent (water, alcohol, acetone, etc.). A
piezoelectric transducer then agitates the solvent. Many
objects with inaccessible surfaces can be cleaned using this
methodology.
Piezoelectric ultrasonic cleansers (Figure 4) provide
capabilities such as ultrasonic breaking up of kidney stones
and removal of dental plaque. They are used to conduct
precise measurements to identify flaws and other anomalies
detected between transmitters and receivers of ultrasonic
waves.
Figure. 4
• Ultrasound
imaging

Piezoelectronic
Transducers are often used
in medical Ultrasound
Equipment. Advances in
equipment over the
decades have enabled
improved monitoring of
pregnancies and facilitated
minimally invasive surgical
procedures (Figure 6).
Ultrasonic
procedures

Some non-invasive medical

procedures rely on the use of
focused ultrasonic waves to
break up kidney stones or
destroy malignant tissue (
Figure 7). Additionally, the
advent of the harmonic
scalpel has enabled surgeons
to simultaneously incise and
coagulate tissue during a
surgical procedure without the
need for cauterization. This
leads to less tissue damage,
less blood loss, and faster
healing times
 Research
Write concisely on the following

• Piezoelectricity in defense applications

• Piezoelectricity other applications in daily life
• Piezoelectric actuators in consumer electronics
 Reference
1.J. Curie, P. Curie, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris
91(1880)294. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2915742
2.2.W.G. Cady, “Piezoelectricity”, Dover, New Yard, Vol.2 (1964),
p.417. https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a254925.pdf
3.3.J. Valasek, Phys. Rev.
15(1920)537. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.17.475
4.4.B. Jaffe, W.R. Cook and H. Jaffe, “Piezoelectric ceramics”, Academic Press,
New York, 1971. 10.4236/msa.2013.45041
5.5.J.M. Harbert, “Ferroelectric transducers and Sensors”. Gordon and Breach
Science Pub. London, (1982) Chap.1. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-
3818-9_19
6.6.L.G. Van Uitert, S. Singh, H.J. Levinstein, J.E. Geusic and W.A. Bonner,
Appl. Phys. Lett. 11(1967) 161. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1755129
7.7.J.E. Geusic, H.J. Levinstein, J.J. Rubin, S. Singh and L.G. Van Uitert, Appl.
Phys. Lett. 11(1967)269. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1755129
TH A N K YO U