The piezoelectric device in the lighter is a piezoelectric ceramic element. Under the action of mechanical stress, the piezoelectric ceramic causes the internal positive and negative charge centers to shift relative to each other and become polarized, resulting in the opposite sign of bound charges appearing on the surfaces of the two ends of the material. Therefore, when the piezoelectric ceramic element is subjected to impact pressure, the mechanical energy is converted into electrical energy, and an instant high-voltage electric spark is emitted at the tip to ignite the fuel.

Piezoelectric igniter is a manual ignition device produced based on piezoelectric effect and piezoelectric ceramics as a medium. It is mostly used in various gas appliances, such as gas stoves, gas water heaters, and gas refrigerators. Compared with pulse ignition, piezoelectric ignition has the shortcomings of short discharge time, manual operation, and low ignition success rate. It is being phased out by pulse igniters.