Resistance

• In any material, electrons move randomly like gas in a closed

container. There is no preferred direction and an average
concentration of electrons in any part of material is uniform
(assuming that the material is homogeneous).
• Let us take a bar of an arbitrary material. The length of the bar is l.
When the ends of the bar are connected to the battery having
voltage V , an electric field E will be setup within the material.
• It is easy to determine strength of the electric field E = V / l
• The field acts on free electrons and sets them in motion against the
direction of the field. Thus, the electric current starts flowing through
the material is i = dq/dt

Note: amount of water passing

through any cross-section per unit of
time is constant.
 Resistance
• Resistor: A material may be characterized by its ability to pass
electric current. Any material that has electric resistivity is called a
resistor.

• The resistivity of a material is said as electrical resistance, which is

defined by Ohm’s law, which means that a ratio of voltage to current
is a constant R =

• For the pure resistance (no inductance or capacitance) voltage and

current are inphase with each other, meaning that they are changing
simultaneously.

• The SI unit of resistance is 1 ohm (Ω) = 1 volt/1 ampere.

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 Resistivity
• Example, compare electric current with water flow:
– pressure across the pipe line (Pascal) is analogous of voltage
(V) across the resistor,
– electric current (C/s) is analogous of water flow (L/s) and
– electric resistance (Ω) corresponds to water flow resistance in
the pipe (no special unit).
• It is clear that the resistance to water flow is smaller when the
pipe is short, wide and has no obstructions. R =

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 Real Time example: Resistivity
• Consider a human body where coronary blood flow may be
restricted by cholesterol deposits on the inner lining of arteries.
• These deposits increase the flow resistance (called vascular
resistance).
• The arterial blood pressure increases to compensate for rise in the
vascular resistance but not always can keep up with it.
• If it is the case, the heart action that develops the arterial pressure
is no longer sufficient to provide a necessary blood supply to vital
organs, including a heart. This may result in a heart attack.
• The basic laws that govern the electric circuit designs are called

Kirchhoff (1824–1887). R = 𝑽/𝑰

Kirchhoff’s Laws, after the German physicist Gustav Robert

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 Resistivity Cont.,
• Resistance is a characteristic of a device. It depends on both the
material and the geometry of the resistor.
• Material itself can be characterized by a specific resistivity, r, which
is defined as ρ=
• where current density j = (A is the area of the material cross
section).
• A reciprocal quantity of resistivity is called conductivity: G = .
• Resistivity of a material can be expressed through mean time
between collisions, τ, the electronic charge, e, the mass of electron,
m, and a number of conduction electrons per unit volume, n as
ρ=

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 Resistivity Cont.,
• To find the resistance of a conductor the following formula may

R = 𝝆𝒍/𝑨
be used:

where
• 𝑨 is the cross-sectional area
• 𝒍 is the length of the conductor.
• 𝒍/𝑨 - geometry factor.

• Thus, to design a resistive sensor, find ways of modulating either

the specific resistivity or the geometry factor of the resistor.

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 Temperature Sensitivity
• In reality, specific resistivity or conductivity of a material is not
constant and It changes somewhat with temperature, t and
temperature coefficient of resistance α,
• Temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) is the calculation of a
relative change of resistance per degree of temperature change.
• Conductivity is written as ρ = ρo (1+ α )
• where ρ0 is the specific resistivity at reference temperature t0
(commonly either 0 or 25◦C).
• In a broader range, resistivity is a nonlinear function of
temperature.

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 Temperature Sensitivity
• Metals have positive temperature coefficients (PTC)
• while many semiconductors and oxides have negative temperature
coefficients of resistance (NTC)
• Example: Tungsten(PTC)
• An incandescent bulb typically consists of a
glass enclosure containing a tungsten
filament.
• An electric current passes through the
filament, heating it to a temperature that
produces light. ...
• The enclosing glass enclosure contains
either a vacuum or an inert gas to preserve
and protect the filament from evaporating.
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 Temperature Sensitivity
• Example: Resistive temperature detector (RTD)
• The most popular RTD is a platinum (Pt) temperature sensor, which
operates over a broad temperature range from about 200◦C to over
600◦C.
• an electronic device used to determine the temperature by
measuring the resistance of an electrical wire.
• This wire is referred to as a temperature sensor.
• Resistance of RTD is negative temperature co-efficient
• The variation of resistance of the metal with the variation of the
temperature is given as,

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 Temperature Sensitivity
Example: Thermistors
• A thermistor is a resistance thermometer, or a resistor whose
resistance is dependent on temperature. The term is a combination
of “thermal” and “resistor”
• Thermistors are resistors with large either negative (NTC) or
positive (PTC) temperature coefficients.
• The thermistors are ceramic semiconductors commonly made of
oxides of one or more of the following metals: nickel, manganese,
cobalt, titanium, iron.
• Thermistors possess nonlinear temperature-resistance
characteristics

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 Strain Sensitivity
• A mechanical deformation modulates either the specific resistivity
or the geometry factor. The strain sensitivity is called the piezo-
resistive effect.
• A strain sensor is the basis of many force and pressure sensors. The
applied stress, σ, relates to force as σ = = E
• where E is Young’s modulus of the material, F is the applied force
and a is the cross-sectional area.
• In this equation, the ratio = e is called strain.

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 Strain Sensitivity
• Example: a cylindrical conductor (wire) which is stretched by
applied force F. Volume v of the material stays constant, while the
length increases and the cross sectional area becomes smaller.
R=
• Normalized incremental resistance of the strained wire is a linear
function of strain, e, and it can be expressed as e
• where Se is known as the gauge factor or sensitivity of the strain
gauge element. For metallic wires it ranges from 2 to 6.

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 Moisture Sensitivity
• ρ is the amount of moisture that can be absorbed by the resistor.

• A moisture-dependent resistor can be fabricated of a hygroscopic

material whose specific resistivity is strongly influenced by
concentration of the absorbed water molecules.

• This is the basis for the resistive humidity sensors, which are called
hygristors.

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 Moisture Sensitivity
Example: Hygristor is comprised of a ceramic substrate that has two
silk-screen printed conductive inter digitized 7 electrodes.
• The electrodes are metal conductors. a resistor is formed between
two electrodes.
• The electrodes and the space between them are covered by
hygroscopic semiconductive gel which forms a matrix to hold the
conductive particles.
• As a result, Resistance of the coating changes with humidity in a
nonlinear way.

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 Piezoelectric Effect
• Piezoelectric effect : Pressure applied to quartz or even some certain
crystals creates an electrical charge in that certain material. This
phenomenon is called as the piezoelectric effect.
• The Curie brothers discovered the piezoelectric effect in quartz in
1880.
• Inverse piezoelectric effect: when an electric field was enforced onto
crystal leads, it led to the malformation or disorder to the crystal lead
—now called the inverse piezoelectric effect.
• The inverse piezoelectric effect converts electrical energy to
mechanical energy.

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 Piezoelectric Material

The effect exists in natural crystals, such as

• quartz (chemical formula SiO2),
• poled (artificially polarized) human-made ceramics
• some polymers, such as PVDF.
• PZT (also known as lead zirconate titanate- Pb[Zr(x)Ti(1-x)]O3)),
barium titanate(BaTiO3), and lithium niobate(LiNbO3).
Properties
• piezoelectric material possesses ferroelectric properties.
• there is no iron in most piezoelectric material.
• ferroelectric materials are inherently piezoelectric.
• This means that in response to an applied mechanical load, the
material will produce an electric charge proportional to the load.
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 Piezoelectric Effect Cont.,
• A quartz crystal(SiO2) is modeled as a helix (Fig. a) with one silicon,
Si, and two oxygen, O2, atoms alternating around the helix.
• In a single crystal-cell there are three atoms of silicon and six oxygen
atoms. Oxygen is being lumped in pairs.
• Each silicon atom carries four positive charges and a pair of oxygen
atoms carries four negative charges (two per atom).
• Therefore a quartz cell is electrically neutral under the no-stress
conditions.

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 Piezoelectric Effect Cont.,
• When external force, Fx, is applied along the x-axis, the hexagonal
lattice becomes deformed.
• If the crystal is stretched along the x-axis (Fig. c), a charge of
opposite polarity is built along the y-axis, which is a result of a
different deformation.
• This simple model illustrates that crystalline material can develop
electric charge on its surface in response to a mechanical
deformation. A similar explanation may be applied to the
pyroelectric effect.

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 Piezoelectric Effect Cont.,
• To pickup an electric charge, conductive electrodes must be applied
to the crystal at the opposite sides of the cut.
• As a result, a piezoelectric sensor becomes a capacitor with a
dielectric material between the metal plates, where the dielectric is
a piezoelectric crystalline material.
• The dielectric acts as a generator of
electric charge, resulting in voltage V
across the capacitor.

04/21/2026 S&I 19
 Direct Piezoelectric Effect
• The piezoelectric effect occurs through compression of a
piezoelectric material.
• Piezoceramic material—non-conductive piezoelectric ceramic or
crystal—is placed between the two metal plates.
• For piezoelectricity to be generated, it needs that material to be
compressed or squeezed. Mechanical stress applied to piezoelectric
ceramic material generates electricity.
• Devices that use the direct piezoelectric effect include
microphones, pressure sensors, hydrophones.

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 Inverse Piezoelectric Effect
• Applying electrical voltage to make a piezoelectric crystal shrink or
expand. The inverse piezoelectric effect converts electrical energy
to mechanical energy.
• devices that produce acoustic sound waves.
Examples
• piezoelectric acoustic devices are speakers (commonly found in
handheld devices) or buzzers.
• medical ultrasound transducers.
• sonar transducers.

04/21/2026 S&I 21
 Piezoelectric Effect
• The magnitude of the piezoelectric effect in a simplified form can
be represented by the vector of polarization P = Pxx + Pyy + Pzz
• where x, y, and z refer to a conventional orthogonal system related
to the crystal axes. In terms of axial stress, σ, we can write
• Pxx = d11σ xx + d12 σ yy + d13 σ zz;
• Pyy = d21 σ xx + d22 σ yy + d23 σ zz;
• Pzz = d31 σ xx + d32 σ yy + d33 σ zz;
• where constants dmn are the piezoelectric coefficients along the
orthogonal axes

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 Piezoelectric Effect
• For the convenience of computation, two additional units have
been introduced.

• This coefficient g represents a voltage gradient (electric field)

generated by the crystal per unit applied pressure.
• Another coefficient, which is designated h, is obtained by
multiplying the g-coefficients by the corresponding Young’s moduli
for the corresponding crystal axes.
• Piezoelectric crystals are direct converters of mechanical energy
into electrical. The efficiency of the conversion can be determined
from the so-called coupling coefficients kmn:

04/21/2026 S&I 23
 Characterisation of Piezoelectrics

• Piezo crystals are transducers. They convert mechanical to

electrical energy.
• The conversion efficiency is given by the coupling coeffient:
2
d mnY
K mn 
 0 mn

Where Y is Young’s Modulus = Stress/strain

 F Force
Y  ,  stress  
dl A Area
l
 Characterisation of Piezoelectrics
• The charge generated in the
X-direction from an applied Qx d12 Fy
stress in y
The charge generated is proportional to the applied force. Using
our Q = CV, we get a generated voltage
Qx d12 Fy
V  Area of
C C electrodes
 r 0 A
The capacitance is: C
l
d12lFy
So the Voltage is V Thickness of
 0 r A crystal
Some piezoelectrics
 Numerical Example.

What is the sensitivity of 1 mm thick, BaTiO3 sensor with an

electrode area of 1 square cm?

V
d12lF

78 110  3 F 7.8 10  2 F
=
 r  0 A 1700 8.8 10  12110  4 1.5 10 12
V
So 5.2 1010 Volts/Newton
F
This is a big number because the effective capacitance is
so small. In the real world the voltage is smaller.
1.5 10  12
C= 3
1.5nF Very Small!
110
 Application – Piezo electric Effect

• Sonar - using the inverse piezoelectric effect sends out a sound

wave to search for objects ahead.
• Piezoelectric Actuators
• Piezoelectric Speakers and Buzzers
• Piezo Drivers- convert low battery voltage into high voltage to
power piezoelectric devices.
• Atomic Scale Microscopy
• piezoelectric accelerometers
 Atomic Scale Microscopy
• Use Piezoelectric crystals as transducers to do atomic scale
microscopy
• A new generation of electron microscopes is able to explore
the microscopic properties of materials
 Piezo resistive Sensors

F Ydl
The stress on a material is  
A l
Strain = dl/l
A cylinder stretched by a Force F keeps constant volume
but l increases and A decreases.
A l l 2
Resitance R  A  vol
l dR 2 l
Sensitivity of the sensor is 
dl vol
Longer wires give more sensitivity
 Characterizing Piezo resistors

Normalised resistance is a linear function of strain: dR

S e e
Where e is the strain, and R

Se is the gauge factor or sensitivity of the strain.

Metals 2  Se  6
Semiconductors 40  S e  200

Semiconductor strain gauges are 10 to 100 times more

sensitive, but are also more temperature dependent.
Usually have to compensate with other types of sensors.
 Piezoresistive Heat Sensors.

Resistive Temperature Detectors: on demand “RTD”s

RTD’s used at Belle

Thin platinum wire deposited on a substrate.
 Other Piezo Resistive Issues
• Artificial piezoelectric sensors are made by poling; apply a
voltage across material as it is heated above the Curie point (at
which internal domians realign).
• The effect is to align natural dipoles in the crystal. This makes
the crystal a Piezoelectric.
• PVDF is of moderate sensitivity but very resistant to
depolarization when subject to high AC fields.
• PVDF is 100 times more resistant to electric field than the
ceramic PZT [Pd(Ze,Ti)O3] and useful for strains 10 times
larger.
 Example: acceleration Sensor.
• Piezoelectric cable with an inner copper core.
• The piezoelectric acts as an insulator, clad by an outer metal
sheath and flexible plastic and rubber coating.
• Other configurations exist: see
[Link]/techsupport/tech_accel.aspx

Inner copper core

Piezoelectric
Outer metal sheath or braid

Plan view of cable Remember that F=ma , so if the sensor mass

is known, then the force measured can be
converted into an acceleration.
 Applications for piezoelectric
accelerometers
• Detection of insects in silos
• Automobile traffic analysis (buried in highway): traffic counting and
weighing.
• Vibration monitor in compressor blades in turboshaft aircraft
• Force and pressure sensors (say, monitoring jolts to packages).
• Tactile films: thin silicone rubber film (40 m) sandwiched between
two thin PVDF films.
 Pyroelectric Matterial

 A special class of material which is subset of piezoelectric material.

 Are polarized spontaneously but they do not respond to an electric
field like ferroelectronics –require very high electric field for orienting
the dipoles.
 The field required is so high that the material reaches electric
breakdown before it can get polarized. But When temperature is
changed the polarization of crystal changes. e.g LiNbO3
 Pyroelectricity: Introduction
Pyroelectricity:
• The pyroelectric materials are crystalline substances capable of
generating an electrical charge in response to heat flow. Electrical
response of a material to a change in temperature. p= (dP/dT)E,σ
Orgin of polarization:
• Electronic
• Ionic

• Dipole

• Space
 Pyroelectricity: Introduction

• Pyroelectric sensor has two electrodes at the opposite sides of the

crystal (a). Thermal radiation is applied along axis 3 from the top and
absorbed by the heat absorbing layer. Heat conductively travels
through the pyroelectric material.
• Pyroelectric sensor in a neutral state (b); heat expands the upper
layer, resulting in a piezoelectric charge (c)
 Pyroelectricity: Introduction

• If an insulating crystal is placed in an external electric field, the

material will polarize.
• The electrons will displace slightly forming electric dipoles, and
energy can be stored in this material polarization.
• In some pyroelectric materials, heating or cooling will also cause the
material to polarize.
• We can model the material polarization by adding a term to Equation
in account for the temperature dependence

• pyroelectric coefficient
 Pyroelectric materials

• Ferroelectric pyroelectric materials:

- Spontaneous polarization switch able by electric field
e.g.BaTiO3,PbTiO3,PZT, LiTaO3,,,and TGS etc.
• Non-ferroelectric pyroelectric materials:
- no change with electric field
[Link], CdS, and CdSe etc.
• In both cases net polarization can be change with mechanical
stress
 Pyroelectricity

D=εE + Ps
dD/dT=Edε/dT + dPs/dT
pg=Edε/dT + p

Generalized pyroelectric coefficient True pyroelectric coefficient

In all dielectrics
 Pyroelectric coefficient vs Temperature

• Follow the specific heat curve.

P(0) & P(T) are dipole moment at 0K and a temperature T.
ΔP: change in dipole moment from 0K to T.
U(T): internal energy at a temperature T.
• U(T) α [P(T)]2  P(0)2 +2P(0) ΔP
dU/dT =dP/dT
• Pyroelectric coefficient α specific heat
 Pyroelectric polymers

• Ferroelectric polymer: e.g. PVDF(Polyvinylidene fluoride)

• Poled polymer: Crystalline, semi-crystalline, and amorphous polymer

exhibit pyroelectricity due to space charge effects.

• Charged Cellular Polymers: polymer foam of non-polar materials……..

 Charged cellular polymers

• Piezo and pyroelectricity

are due symmetry breaking
at macroscopic level.
• Void volume is a factor
1015 larger than unit cell volume.
• Pyroelectric coefficient is of opposite sign to
those of ferroelectric polymers and other
ferroelectric materials.
Measurement of the pyroelectric coefficient
Byer-Roundy technique
 Applications

• Detection of electromagnetic radiation

• Infrared Imaging
• Refrigeration
• Solar energy conversion
• Radiometry, pyrometry and thermometry
 Pyroelectric devices

Window, sensing element, and integral circuit

 Pyroelectric devices

• Window:
-Restricts undesirable wavelengths (optical filter).
-Protects the sensing element and circuits from physical & chemical
damage.
- Single crystals of Ge, Si, Al2O3, and ZnS coated with MgF2,BaF2,PbF2,
and CaF2 are used as the filter for the IR region.

• Sensing elements: Can be thin wafer of single crystal or

ceramic. High curie temperature, high figure of merit and good
mechanical properties
 Compensated detector

• Noise or unwanted voltages due mechanical

vibrations. (all pyroelectric materials are piezoelectric)
 Thermal Properties of Materials
• Thermal properties are those properties of a material which is
related to its conductivity of heat.
• These are the properties that are exhibited by a material when the
heat is passed through it.
• Thermal properties of material decide how it reacts when it is
subjected to heat fluctuation (excessive heat or very low heat, for
example). The major components of thermal properties are:
Heat capacity
Thermal Expansion
Thermal conductivity
Thermal stress
 Heat Capacity
• The heat capacity of a material can be defined as the amount of heat
required to change the temperature of the material by one degree.
• The amount of heat is generally expressed in joules or calories and
the temperature in Celsius or Kelvin.
• In order to calculate the heat capacity of materials with a given
dimension, Molar heat capacity or specific heat capacity is used.
• Heat Capacity Formula Q = m c ΔT
Where,
• Q is the heat capacity in J
• m is the mass in g
• c is the specific heat in J.K-1
• ΔT is the temperature change in °K
 Thermal Expansion
• When heat is passed through a material, its shape changes.
Generally, a material expands when heated.
• This property of a material is called thermal expansion. There can be
a change in the area, volume, and shape of the material.
• For example, railway tracks often expand and as a result, get
misshapen due to extreme heat.
 Thermal conductivity
• It is the property of a material to conduct heat through itself.
Materials with high thermal conductivity will conduct more heat
than the ones with low conductivity.
• For example, an iron rod will conduct more heat than normal
window glass.
 Thermal stress
• The stress experienced by a body due to either thermal expansion or
contraction is called thermal stress.

• It can be potentially destructive in nature as it can make the material

explode.

• For example, cracks can be seen on roads where the heat is extreme.
The crack is a result of thermal stress.
 Thermoelectric effect
• The thermoelectric effect is the direct conversion of temperature
differences to electric voltage and vice versa via a thermocouple.
• Thermoelectric devices create a voltage when there is a different
temperature on each side.
• At the atomic scale, an applied temperature gradient causes charge
carriers in the material to diffuse from the hot side to the cold side.
• The term "thermoelectric effect" encompasses three separately
identified effects:
i)the Seebeck effect
ii)Peltier effect,
iii) Thomson effect.
 Thermoelectric effect
• Seebeck effect: In 1821 Thomas Seebeck, a German physicist
discovered that when two dissimilar metal ( Seebeck used copper
and bismuth) wires are joined at two ends to form a loop, a voltage
is developed in the circuit if the two junctions are kept at different
temperatures. The pair of metals forming the circuit is called a
thermocouple . The effect is due to conversion of thermal energy to
electrical energy.
• The Seebeck effect is a phenomenon in which a temperature
difference between two dissimilar electrical conductors or
semiconductors produces a voltage difference between the two
substances.
• When heat is applied to one of the two conductors or
semiconductors, heated electrons flow toward the cooler one. If the
pair is connected through an electrical circuit, direct current (DC)
flows through that circuit.
 Thermoelectric effect
• The voltages produced by Seebeck effect are small, usually only a
few microvolts (millionths of a volt) per kelvin of temperature
difference at the junction.
• Numerous such devices can be connected in series to increase the
output voltage or in parallel to increase the maximum deliverable
current.
• Large arrays of Seebeck-effect devices can provide useful, small-scale
electrical power if a large temperature difference is maintained
across the junctions
 Thermoelectric effect

• Peltier Effect: In 1834 Jean Peltier, discovered a second

thermoelectric effect.
• If a current flows through a circuit containing junction of two dis-
similar metals, it leads to an absorption or liberation of heat at the
junctions.
• Heat is given out or absorbed depending on the pairs of metals and
the direction of the current.
• If the direction of the current at the junction is same as the direction
of the Seebeck current, heat is liberated if the Seebeck junction is a
hot junction or is absorbed if the junction is cold.
 Thermoelectric effect

• Thus for a copper- constantan thermocouple, if the current flow at

the junction is from copper (+) to constantan (-), heat is absorbed.
• On changing the direction of the current, heat will be liberated at
the same junction, showing that the phenomenon is reversible.
 Thermoelectric effect

• Thomson Effect: William Thomson (later well known as Lord Kelvin)

discovered a third thermoelectric effect which provides a link
between Seebeck effect and Peltier effect.
• Thomson found that when a current is passed through an wire of
single homogeneous material along which a temperature gradient
exists, heat must be exchanged with the surrounding in order that
the original temperature gradient may be maintained along the wire.
• The exchange of heat is required at all places of the circuit where a
temperature gradient exists.
 Thermoelectric effect
• Thomson effect may be understood by a simple picture.
• A conductor has free charge carriers, which are, electrons in metals,
electrons and holes in semiconductors and ions in case of ionic
conductors.
• Consider a section of such a conductor whose one end is hotter than
the other end. Charge carriers at the hot end, being more energetic,
will diffuse towards the colder end.
• The charge separation sets up an electric field .
 THANK YOU

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