Britannica Sources used in this answer

Who discovered piezoelectricity in 1880?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Figure 1: Ferroelectric properties of barium titanate (BaTiO3). (Left) Above 120° C the structure of the BaTiO3 crystal is cubic, and there is no net polarization of charge; (right) below 120° C the structure changes to tetragonal, shifting the relative positions of the ions and causing a concentration of positive and negative charges toward opposite ends of the crystal. — capacitor dielectric and piezoelectric ceramics Figure 1: Ferroelectric properties of barium titanate (BaTiO₃). (Left) Above 120° C the structure of the BaTiO₃ crystal is cubic, and there is no net polarization of charge; (right) below 120° C the structure changes to tetragonal, shifting the relative positions of the ions and causing a concentration of positive and negative charges toward opposite ends of the crystal.

Piezoelectricity was discovered in 1880 by Pierre and Paul-Jacques Curie. They observed that compressing certain crystals, such as quartz, tourmaline, and Rochelle salt, along specific axes produced a voltage on the crystal's surface.1