These
materials are also used in everyday devices, such
as loudspeakers, which rely on
piezoelectrics to convert electrical signals to mechanical vibrations which create sound waves to produce the desired acoustic signal.
If the black brane has an electric charge, bending it converts mechanical stress into an electric field,
as in
piezoelectric materials (Physical Review Letters, doi.org/j2c).
Although researchers have known for years about bismuth ferrite's
piezoelectric properties, it could not be made to produce enough voltage to be considered
as a replacement for lead, says Ramamoorthy Ramesh, a professor of physics and of
materials science and engineering at U.C. Berkeley who contributed to the research led by Robert Zeches, one of Ramesh's graduate researchers at Berkeley's Department of Materials Science and Eng
materials science and engineering at U.C. Berkeley who contributed to the research led by Robert Zeches, one of Ramesh's graduate researchers at Berkeley's Department of
Materials Science and Eng
Materials Science and Engineering.