Physical Transformation AtlasPTA
Phenomenon · phenomenon:bulk-photovoltaic-effect

Bulk photovoltaic effect

A homogeneous non-centrosymmetric crystal generates a steady photocurrent under uniform illumination, without a junction, and can produce photovoltages above the band gap.

Optics and photonicsfirst reported 1974also: photogalvanic effect, shift current

Atlas record: 4 claims reference this phenomenon — 4 established.

Explorerelations · matrix context · routes · sources · cite

conditions: solid · non-centrosymmetric crystal required · illumination required
4claims1enumerated routes0routes with complete-composition evidence1candidate routes not searched3cited sources

Relations

drives · 1
Incident radiation flux—drives→Bulk photovoltaic effectestablished
  • a homogeneous non-centrosymmetric crystal under uniform illumination; no junction
produces · 1
Bulk photovoltaic effect—produces→Charge carriersestablished
member of · 1
Bulk photovoltaic effect—member of→Photovoltaicestablished
bounded by · 1
Bulk photovoltaic effect—bounded by→Landsberg limitestablished
  • the Shockley–Queisser limit does not apply because there is no junction, but the Landsberg bound does

Matrix context

D = disequilibrium row · C = coupling family column. A cell reads the state of the atlas for that pair.

D.11 × C.18 · Incident radiation flux × Photovoltaic · Established
family: Photovoltaic (C.18)

Enumerated routes through this · 1

Cited sources · 3

  1. [1]
    V. M. Fridkin. Review of recent work on the bulk photovoltaic effect in ferro and piezoelectrics (1984)
    Ferroelectrics 53, 169–187 · doi:10.1080/00150198408245047 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record
  2. [2]
    J. E. Spanier, et al.. Power conversion efficiency exceeding the Shockley–Queisser limit in a ferroelectric insulator (2016)
    Nature Photonics 10, 611–616 · doi:10.1038/nphoton.2016.143 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record
  3. [3]
    P. T. Landsberg, G. Tonge. Thermodynamic energy conversion efficiencies (1980)
    Journal of Applied Physics 51, R1–R20 · doi:10.1063/1.328187 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record

Cite this entity

Physical Transformation Atlas (2026). entity phenomenon:bulk-photovoltaic-effect: Bulk photovoltaic effect. Dataset revision rbfbfcbb70e57 (hash of the canonical data). https://physical-transformation-atlas.wldud5192.workers.dev/phenomenon/bulk-photovoltaic-effect

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