Thin Film Lithium Tantalate (TFLT) pyroelectric detectors

Vincent Stenger; Michael Shnider; Sri Sriram; Donald Dooley; Mark Stout

doi:10.1117/12.908523

22 February 2012 Thin Film Lithium Tantalate (TFLT) pyroelectric detectors

Vincent Stenger, Michael Shnider, Sri Sriram, Donald Dooley, Mark Stout

Proceedings Volume 8261, Terahertz Technology and Applications V; 82610Q (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.908523
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2012, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

Pyroelectric thermal detectors are excellent candidates for detection of broadband radiation. Such detectors utilize permanently poled ferroelectric single crystal lithium tantalate to generate a charge as the crystal heats up by absorbing radiation. The charge, which results in a current output when connected to an external electrical circuit, is directly proportional to the rate of change of temperature of the crystal. The fundamental approach toward enhancing pyroelectric detector response is to form the pyroelectric material into a thin film. An elegant approach for producing bulk quality thin films of pyroelectric materials is by crystal ion slicing. In this paper, we report on the formation of thin film lithium tantalate (TFLT™) pyroelectric detector devices using the ion slicing process. The devices incorporate films less than 9 microns thin and feature apertures as large as 5 mm in diameter. To make functional detectors, ion sliced films were transferred to ceramic carriers in TO-type can test packages. Test results have shown improvement in room temperature detectivity about 20 times higher than the state-of-the-art lithium tantalate pyroelectric detectors.

Citation Download Citation

Vincent Stenger, Michael Shnider, Sri Sriram, Donald Dooley, and Mark Stout "Thin Film Lithium Tantalate (TFLT) pyroelectric detectors", Proc. SPIE 8261, Terahertz Technology and Applications V, 82610Q (22 February 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.908523

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