Not to be confused with thermoelectricity, a different thermal effect with a different mechanism.
Internals of a pyroelectric sensor
Pyroelectricity (from Greek: pyr (πυρ), "fire" and electricity) is a property of certain crystals which are naturally electrically polarized and as a result contain large electric fields.[1] Pyroelectricity can be described as the ability of certain materials to generate a temporary voltage when they are heated or cooled.[2][3] The change in temperature modifies the positions of the atoms slightly within the crystal structure, so that the polarization of the material changes. This polarization change gives rise to a voltage across the crystal. If the temperature stays constant at its new value, the pyroelectric voltage gradually disappears due to leakage current. The leakage can be due to electrons moving through the crystal, ions moving through the air, or current leaking through a voltmeter attached across the crystal.[3][4]
^Ashcroft, N. W. & Mermin, N. D. Solid State Physics. (Cengage Learning, 1976).
^Charles Kittel-8th Edition. 2016. Introduction to Solid State Physics.
^ abWebster, John G (1999). The measurement, instrumentation, and sensors handbook. CRC Press. pp. 32–113. ISBN 978-0-8493-8347-2.
^In this article, the term "voltage" is used in the everyday sense, i.e. what a voltmeter measures. This is actually the electrochemical potential, not the electrostatic potential (Galvani potential).
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their knowledge of pyroelectricity with their understanding of the underlying crystal structures that gave rise to pyroelectricity to predict crystal...
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triboelectric, both of which convert mechanical energy into electricity, and pyroelectric nanogenerators, which convert heat energy into electricity. A piezoelectric...
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individual lenses. PIR with front cover removed, showing location of pyroelectric sensor (green arrow). Some PIRs are manufactured with internal, segmented...
; Deshpande, R.; Dillon, A. C.; Lehman, J. (2006). "Evaluation of a pyroelectric detector with a carbon multiwalled nanotube black coating in the infrared"...
sensors to have a working range of up to 1000 °C. Tourmaline shows pyroelectricity in addition to the piezoelectric effect; this is the ability to generate...
manufacturing antimatter alone. Pyroelectric fusion was reported in April 2005 by a team at UCLA. The scientists used a pyroelectric crystal heated from −34 to...
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early missile guidance in World War II. 1938: Yeou Ta predicted that the pyroelectric effect could be used to detect infrared radiation. 1945: The Zielgerät...
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phenomenon of pyroelectricity was not limited to crystals with asymmetries (hemimorphism). He published 30 papers on the topic of pyroelectricity. He also...
can (and generally do) have properties such as piezoelectricity and pyroelectricity, which centrosymmetric crystals lack.[citation needed] The nickel arsenide...
piezoelectric effects using Rochelle salts, which led to him naming the effect pyroelectricity. In 1919, Alexander McLean Nicolson worked with Rochelle salt developing...
transparent when prepared as large crystals. It is a ferroelectric, pyroelectric, and piezoelectric ceramic material that exhibits the photorefractive...
calcium aluminium boro-silicate, (Ca,Fe,Mn)3Al2BO3Si4O12OH. Axinite is pyroelectric and piezoelectric. The axinite group includes: Axinite-(Fe) or ferroaxinite...
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thermoelectric phenomenon affecting current in a conductor in a magnetic field Pyroelectricity – the creation of an electric polarization in a crystal after heating/cooling...
piezoelectric effect, which is another type of ferroelectric behavior. Pyroelectricity requires time-varying inputs and suffers from small power outputs in...
attracts straws and bits of wood when heated, now known to be caused by pyroelectricity. Pliny the Elder makes clear references to his use of the work in his...
corresponding transition temperature T0. Ferroelectric materials are all pyroelectric and therefore have a spontaneous electric polarisation as the structures...
Signals and Radar Establishment, which developed thermal imaging and pyroelectric infrared detectors, and is now a large site owned by QinetiQ. Morgan...
Theophrastus the first record of pyroelectricity. The misconception arose soon after the discovery of the pyroelectric properties of tourmaline, which...
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