Electrocaloric effect

Effet électrocalorifique (Fr).

Definition

The electrocaloric effect is the converse of the pyroelectric effect: it describes the electrical response of a material to a thermal impetus. For instance, if the material is submitted uniformly to a temperature variation δΘ, an electrical polarisation P_i appears:

P_i = p_i^T δΘ

where p_i^T is the electrocaloric coefficient at constant stress. It is equal to the pyroelectric coefficient.