photoelectricity

[ foh-toh-i-lek-tris-i-tee, -ee-lek- ]

noun

, Physics.

1. electricity induced by electromagnetic radiation, as in certain processes, as the photoelectric and photovoltaic effects, photoconductivity, and photoionization.
2. the branch of physics that deals with these phenomena.

Word History and Origins

Origin of photoelectricity¹

First recorded in 1875–80; photo- + electricity

Example Sentences

“The low-end manufacturing industry is tough and will be getting tougher day by day as both labor and land costs are rising,” says Xu Hui, 39, the owner of Wenzhou Dazhan Photoelectricity Co. in Zhejiang province, south of Shanghai.

From BusinessWeek

The book, written with Physicist Arthur L. Hughes, turned out to be, at the time, the definitive work on photoelectricity.

From Time Magazine Archive

For example, the men who did the original work on photoelectricity, the phenomenon that now magically opens restaurant and railway station doors and performs a thousand sorting jobs in industry, were all pure scientists.

From Time Magazine Archive

And the man who first clarified photoelectricity by describing it mathematically was none other than Albert Einstein.

From Time Magazine Archive