photoelectric
Americanadjective
adjective
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Relating to or exhibiting to electrical effects upon exposure to light. For example, some photoelectric materials emit electrons called photoelectrons upon exposure to certain frequencies of light; others, such as photoresistors and phototransistors, change their electrical properties.
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See also photoelectric effect
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of photoelectric
Vocabulary lists containing photoelectric
Physics - High School
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Electromagnetic Radiation - High School
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Example Sentences
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Unlike conventional photoelectric detectors, this mechanism does not require photons to exceed a minimum energy threshold.
From Science Daily ● May 31, 2026
When such particles enter a chamber in the device, they scatter light from a small light source, which is then picked up by a photoelectric sensor.
From BBC ● Jan. 15, 2026
They have named this the photomolecular effect, by analogy with the photoelectric effect that was discovered by Heinrich Hertz in 1887 and finally explained by Albert Einstein in 1905.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2024
At Cal Tech, physicist Robert Millikan brought home the first of Southern California’s dozens of Nobel Prizes “for his work on the elementary charge of electricity and on the photoelectric effect.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2023
This paper—which explained the photoelectric effect, brought quantum mechanics into the mainstream.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
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