Piezoelectric sensor

• In 1880, Jacques and Pierre Curie discovered an unusual

characteristic of certain crystalline minerals: when
subjected to a mechanical force, the crystals became
electrically polarized. Tension and compression
generated voltages of opposite polarity, and in
proportion to the applied force
“A piezoelectric sensor is a device that uses the
piezoelectric effect, to measure changes in
pressure, acceleration, temperature, strain, or
force by converting them to an electrical charge.
The prefix piezo- is Greek for 'press' or
'squeeze‘’.
 Introduction to Piezoelectricity
• Piezoelectricity is the ability of some materials (notably
crystals and certain ceramics) to generate an electric
potential in response to applied mechanical stress.
• This may take the form of a separation of electric
charge across the crystal lattice.
• Electric charge induces a voltage across the material.
• Piezoelectric materials, a subset of ferroelectric
materials, exhibit the formation of a local charge
separation known as electrical dipoles due to their non-
centrosymmetric crystal structure
• The word is derived from the Greek piezein.
 Piezoelectric Materials
Naturally-occurring crystals
• Berlinite (AlPO4), a rare phosphate mineral that is structurally identical to
quartz
• Cane sugar
• Quartz
• Rochelle salt
• Topaz
• Tourmaline-group minerals
Man-made ceramics
• Barium titanate (BaTiO3)—Barium titanate was the first piezoelectric ceramic
discovered.
• Lead titanate (PbTiO3)
• Lead zirconate titanate (Pb[ZrxTi1−x]O3 0<x<1)—more commonly known as PZT,
lead zirconate titanate is the most common piezoelectric ceramic in use today.
• Potassium niobate (KNbO3)
• Lithium niobate (LiNbO3)
• Lithium tantalate (LiTaO3)
• Sodium tungstate (NaxWO3)
Quartz crystal model: (b) charge generation with the force being applied in opposite
direction of the electrodes whereas (c) charge generation with the force being applied in
direction of electrodes
 Piezoelectricity
• The piezoelectric effect is reversible in that materials exhibiting
the direct piezoelectric effect (the production of electricity
when stress is applied) .
• These materials also exhibit the inverse piezoelectric effect
(the production of stress and/or strain when an electric
field/voltage is applied).

Piezoelectric effect: Some materials

generate potentials when they are
subjected to mechanical stress. Example:
Quartz.

Inverse Piezoelectric effect: When

piezoelectric materials are subjected to an
applied voltage (U), they can change their
shape a very little.
Electromechanical conversion
via piezoelectricity phenomena
 The Piezoelectric Effect
Case 1: Crystal material at rest: No
forces applied, so net current flow is 0
Charges are randomly arranged
 The Electromechanical Nature of Piezoelectric
Material

Electromechanical conversion via piezoelectricity

phenomena

• In general, if you deform a piezo crystal by applying a force,

you will get charge separation: Think of a simple battery.

• Taking it one step further, what would happen to the crystal if

you applied an electrical force that results in the exact same
current flow from the proceeding circuit?
The Electromechanical Effect
Applications of piezoelectric materials
Piezoelectric Accelerometers

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 Accelerometers
➢ An accelerometer is an electromechanical device that will
measure acceleration forces.
➢ These forces may be static, like the constant force of gravity
pulling at your feet, or they could be dynamic - caused by
moving or vibrating the accelerometer.
 Why do we need accelerometers
• Vibration and shock are present in all areas of our
daily lives.
• They may be generated and transmitted by
motors, turbines, machine-tools, bridges,
towers, and even by the human body.
• While some vibrations are desirable, others may
be disturbing or even destructive.
• Consequently, there is often a need to
understand the causes of vibrations and to
develop methods to measure and prevent them
Accelerometer applications
 Piezoelectric accelerometers
Due to the special self-generating property, the crystal produces a
voltage that is proportional to the applied accelerative force. The
working and the basic arrangement is shown in the figure below.
F= ma

F q q = d.F
F force
piezo disk q charge
d piezo constant
F

The active element of the accelerometer is a piezoelectric material. One side of the
piezoelectric material is connected to a rigid post at the sensor base. A so-called seismic mass is
attached to the other side. When the accelerometer is subjected to vibration a force is
generated which acts on the piezoelectric element. This force is equal to the product of the
acceleration and the seismic mass. Due to the piezoelectric effect a charge output proportional
to the applied force is generated. Since the seismic mass is constant the charge output signal is
• To pick up an electric charge, conductive electrodes must be applied to the crystal at
the opposite sides of the cut (Fig.).As a result, a piezoelectric sensor becomes a capacitor
with a dielectric material which is a piezoelectric crystal.

Now, the charge developed is directly proportional to the applied Force

Thus, q α F
or q = dF .... Where d is a constant
Now, V = q/C
= q/ (Aε0εr/t) = dF/ (A ε0εr/t) = dFt/ A ε0εr
= d/(ε0εr ) . F/A . t
= g . P. t
Where, P is the pressure applied, g is known as the piezoelectric co-efficient or the
voltage sensitivity and is given by:
g = V/P. t = E/P i.e. Electric field per unit stress

t is the separation between the electrodes

εr is relative permeability/ Dielectric Constant
εo permittivity of free space
Compared to the other types of sensors, piezoelectric
accelerometers have important advantages:
1. Extremely wide dynamic range,
2. Low output noise - suitable for shock measurement as well as for
almost imperceptible vibration
3. Excellent linearity over their dynamic range
4. Wide frequency range
5. Compact yet highly sensitive
6. No moving parts - no wear
7. Self-generating - no external power required
8. Great variety of models available for nearly any purpose
9. Acceleration signal can be integrated to provide velocity and
displacement
10. Piezoelectric sensors are intrinsically stable over wide
temperature range
Why Piezoelectric Accelerometer ?
 Quartz crystal microbalance
• Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) is
an extremely sensitive mass balance
that measures nanogram to microgram
level changes in mass per unit area.
• The heart of the technology is a quartz
disc. Quartz is a piezoelectric material
that can be made to oscillate at a
defined frequency by applying an • Change in frequency can
appropriate voltage usually via metal be monitored in real
electrodes. time to obtain useful
information about
• The frequency of oscillation can be
molecular interactions
affected by the addition or removal of
or reactions taking place
small amounts of mass onto the at the electrode surface,
electrode surface. such as film growth,
oxidation, corrosion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzmBK9mONq8
/decay, etc.
Ultrasonic sensors
 Ultrasound
• Sound generated above the human hearing range (typically 20 kHz) is called
ultrasound.
• Ultrasonic vibrations travel in the form of a wave, similar to the way light
travels.
• However, unlike light waves, which can travel in a vacuum (empty space),
ultrasound requires an elastic medium such as a liquid or a solid.
• Mechanical waves rely on particle interaction in order to transport their energy,
they cannot travel through regions of space that are void of particles
The Acoustic Spectrum
 HC-SR04
Ultrasonic sensor
• An ultrasonic sensor can convert electrical energy into acoustic
waves and vice versa.
• Acoustic wave signal is an ultrasonic wave traveling at a frequency above 40kHz.
• Typically, a microcontroller is used for communication with an ultrasonic sensor.
• When triggered, the ultrasonic sensor generates eight acoustic (ultrasonic) wave
bursts and initiates a time counter.
• As soon as the reflected (echo) signal is received, the timer stops.

Representation of trigger signal, acoustic bursts,

reflected signal and output of echo pin.

• The output of the ultrasonic sensor is a high pulse with the same duration as the
time difference between transmitted ultrasonic bursts and the received echo signal.
➢ It uses an ultrasonic module interfaced to a microcontroller.

➢ An ultrasonic transducer comprising of a transmitter and receiver are used.

➢ The transmitted waves are reflected back from the object and received by the
transducer again.

➢ The total time taken from sending the waves to receiving it is calculated by
taking into consideration the velocity of sound.

➢ Then the distance is calculated by a program running on the microcontroller

and displayed on an LCD screen interfaced to the microcontroller.
Distance calculation of an object:

t- is calculated from the width of the return echo pulse

https://howtomechatronics.com/tutorials/arduino/ultrasonic-sensor-hc-sr04/
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ULTRASOUND APPLICATIONS:
•Popular Imaging Technique
•Determining tissue formation in pregnant women
•Visualizing blood flow in body or fetus
•Early detection of cancerous and benign tumors
•Car Distance Sensors
•Assembly Lines
•High-Powered Cleaning
•Non-Destructive Testing

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• Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)—or drones—commonly use ultrasonic sensors for
monitoring any objects in the UAV’s path and distance from the ground.
• The autonomous feature of detecting safe distances enables the aircraft to avoid
crashing. And as the flight of path changes instantaneously, the ultrasonic detection of
distances can prevent a drone from crashing.
Ultrasonic sensor measuring
height during drone’s flight.

A 3D Ultrasonic anemometer measures both

horizontal and vertical components of the
wind speed and direction.

Weather stations commonly

used anemometers since they
detect wind speed and
direction
Production of Ultrasonic waves – Inverse Piezo Electric Effect

This is based on the Inverse piezoelectric effect. When a quartz crystal is

subjected to an alternating potential difference along the electric axis, the crystal is
set into elastic vibrations along its mechanical axis. If the frequency of electric
oscillations coincides with the natural frequency of the crsytal, the vibrations will
be of large amplitude. If the frequency of the electric field is in the ultrasonic
frequency range, the crystal produces ultrasonic waves.

Working:
When the battery is switched on, the oscillator
produces high frequency oscillations. An
oscillatory e.m.f is induced in the coil L3 due to
transformer action. So the crystal is now under
high frequency alternating voltage.
The capacitance of C1 is varied so that the
frequency of oscillations produced is in
resonance with the natural frequency of the
crystal. Now the crystal vibrates with larger
amplitude due to resonance. Thus high power
ultrasonic waves are produced.
 Ultrasonic transducers convert AC current signals into ultrasound at
transmitting end and reverse phenomena take place at receiving end.
Electrostatic transducers.
• One electrode formed by a flexible
metal foil, which is free to vibrate.
• A fixed backplate covered by a
dielectric layer acts as the other
electrode.
• To enable the metal foil to vibrate,
some type of cavities must be
provided in the dielectric layer. The
metal foil is pulled to the dielectric by
electrostatic force due to an applied
DC voltage. If this voltage is Grooves are either etched into the
superposed by a high frequency AC dielectric or the backplate is
voltage the foil starts to vibrate and equipped with grooves prior to
irradiates an ultrasonic wave. deposition of the dielectric.
• Conversely at the receiving side if an • Titanium foil is used due to its high
acoustic wave impinges on the melting point of 1665 °C as flexible
membrane, an AC voltage is metal foil.
generated. • Backplate silicon and titanium are
considered.
Limitations
• If a target object is positioned such that the ultrasonic signal is deflected
away rather than reflected back to the ultrasonic sensor, the calculated
distance can be incorrect.
• Target object is so small that the reflected ultrasonic signal is insufficient
for detection, and the distance cannot be measured correctly.
• Objects like fabric and carpet can absorb acoustic signals. If the signal is
absorbed in the target object’s end, it cannot reflect back to the sensor,
and hence, the distance cannot be measured.