Physical Effects

Employed for Signal

Transduction
Some well known physical
effects
Photoelectric Effect

When a material is irradiated by photons, electrons

may be emitted from the material. The ejected
electrons are called photoelectrons.
Their kinetic energy, EK, is equal to the incident
photons energy, hv, minus a threshold energy, known
as the materials work function , which needs to be
exceeded for the material to release electrons.
EK = hv
h is Plancks constant (h = 6.62510-34 Js) and
v is the photons frequency
 The photoelectric effect is ideal for use in light sensitive
devices.
Related to this effect are the photoconductive and
the photovoltaic effects.
Photoconductive Effect

Photoconductivity occurs when a beam of photons

impinges on a semiconducting material, causing its
conductivity to change.
The conductivity results from the excitation of free
charge carriers caused by the incident photons, which
occurs if the light striking the semiconductor has
sufficient energy.
This effect is widely utilized in electromagnetic
radiation sensors and such devices are termed
photoconductors, light-dependent resistors (LDR) or
photoresistors.
 Cadmium sulfide (CdS) and cadmium selenide (CdSe)
are the two most common materials for the
fabrication of photoconductive devices and sensors
 Devices based on CdS can have a wide range of
resistance values, from approximately a few ohms
when the light has high intensity, to several mega
ohms in darkness.
They are capable of responding to a broad range of
photon frequencies, including infrared, visible, and
ultraviolet.
Photovoltaic Effect

In the photovoltaic effect, a voltage is induced by the

absorbed photons at a junction of two dissimilar
materials (heterojunction).
The absorbed photons produce free charge carriers.
The induced voltage in the heterojunction causes the
charge carriers to move, resulting in current flow in an
external circuit.
Materials used for fabricating such heterojunctions are
typically semiconductors.
 photon impinging on the junction is absorbed if its
energy is greater than or equal to the semiconductors
bandgap energy.
This can cause a valance band electron to be excited
into the conduction band, leaving behind a hole, and
thus creating a mobile electron-hole pair.
If the electron-hole pair is located within the depletion
region of the p-n junction, then the existing electric
field will either sweep the electron to the n-type side,
or the hole to the p-type side.
As a result, a current is created that is defined by
 Photovoltaic cells and sensors are commonly made from
materials that absorb photons in the visible and UV
ranges, such as GaAs (gallium arsenide - band gap 1.43
eV) and compounds thereof.
For other wavelengthranges, materials such as: silicon
(wavelengths between 190-1100 nm), germanium (800-
1700 nm), indium galium arsenide (800-2600 nm), and
lead sulfide (1000-3500 nm) are generally used.
Photovoltaic devices can be employed in a wide range
of sensing applications. These include use in analytical
apparatus such as spectrophotometers, radiation
monitors, automatic light adjustment systems in buildings,
as light sensors in optical communication systems, etc
Photodielectric Effect

Materials whose dielectric properties change when

illuminated by radiant energy are called
photodielectric.
Photodielectric measurements have been widely
employed in photochemistry as in the study of kinetics
in photographic materials and semiconductors.
It serves as a non-contact approach to measure a
materials photoconductivity in an alternating electric
field, and can be applied to complex semiconductors
for which growth of monocrystals is difficult to monitor.
Photoluminescence Effect

In photoluminescence effect, light is emitted from atoms

or molecules after they have absorbed photons.
The absorbed photons give their energy to the molecule,
causing it to change to a higher energy state.
Then after some time, the molecule radiates the excess
energy back out in the form of a photon, and it
consequently returns to a lower energy state.
The energy of the emitted light relates to the difference in
energy levels of the excited state and the equilibrium
state.
Fluorescence and phosphorescence are examples of
photoluminescence.
Photoluminescence image of InP/ZnS core/shell QDs solution
under UV lamp.
Electroluminescence Effect

Electroluminescence occurs when a material emits

light as a result of an electrical current flowing through
it, or when subjected to an electrical potential.
It is used in the conversion of electrical energy into
radiant energy.
LED
Chemiluminescence Effect

Luminescence that occurs as a result of a chemical

reaction is known as chemiluminescence.
It is commonly observed at wavelengths from the near
ultraviolet to the near infrared.
Doppler Effect

The Doppler effect is the apparent change in a

waves frequency as a result of the observer and the
wave source moving relative to each other.
If the observer and wave source are moving toward
each other, the wave appears to increase in
frequency and is said to be hypsochromically (or blue)
shifted.
Conversely, if the wave source and observer are
moving away from each other, then the wave
appears to decrease in frequency and becomes
bathochromically (or red) shifted.
 The observed Doppler shift in frequency is given by:
Barkhausen Effect
In 1919 Heinrich Barkhausen found that applying a slowly
increasing, continuous magnetic field to a ferromagnetic
material causes it to become magnetized, not
continuously, but in small steps.
These sudden and discontinuous changes in
magnetization are a result of discrete changes in both
the size and orientation of ferromagnetic domains (or of
microscopic clusters of aligned atomic magnets) that
occur during a continuous process of magnetization or
demagnetization.
This effect generally should be reduced in the operation
of magnetic sensors as it appears as a step noise in
measurements. This effect is also observed in nanosized
ferromagnetic materials.
 Hall Effect
when a magnetic field is applied perpendicularly to
the direction of an electrical current flowing in a
conductor or semiconductor, an electric field arises
that is perpendicular to both the direction of the
current and the magnetic field.

where I is the current flowing through the material, B is the magnetic

field, n is the charge carrier density of the material, e is the elementary
electronic charge 1.602 1019 C and d is the thickness of the material.
Thermoelectric (Seebeck/Peltier
and Thomson) Effect

An e.m.f. is generated at the junction of two dissimilar

conducting or semiconducting as a result of a
temperature gradient.

Some common types of thermocouples

 Magneto-Mechanical Effect

Magnetostriction, also called the magneto-

mechanical effect, is the change in a materials
dimensions when subjected to an applied magnetic
field, or alternatively it is a change in a materials
magnetic properties under the influence of stress and
strain.

A schematic of the Magnetostriction effect: un-aligned magnetic

domains (top) will align causing the structure to expand under the
influence of an applied magnetic field (bottom).
Thank You