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
Derived 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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
He added, "This breakthrough could open new avenues for optoelectronic device applications using excitons and trions such as solar cells and photoelectric integrated circuits."
From Science Daily • Feb. 5, 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
His photoelectric eyes focused reproachfully upon the Earthman.
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
