Quick response PZT/P(VDF-TrFE) composite film pyroelectric infrared sensor with patterned polyimide thermal isolation layer

Abstract The fabrication method and the pyroelectric response of a single element infrared sensor based lead zirconate titanate (PZT) particles and polyvinylidene fluoride P(VDF-TrFE) copolymer composite thick film is reported in this paper. A special thermal insulation structure, including polyimide (PI) thermal insulation layer and thermal insulation tanks, was used in this device. The thermal insulation tanks were fabricated by laser micro-etching technique. Voltage responsivity ( R V ), noise voltage ( V noise ), noise equivalent power (NEP), and detectivity ( D * ) of the PZT/P(VDF-TrFE) based infrared sensor are 1.2 × 10 3  V/W, 1.25 × 10 − 6  V Hz 1/2 , 1.1 × 10 −9  W and 1.9 × 10 8  cm Hz 1/2  W −1 at 137.3 Hz modulation frequency, respectively. The thermal time constant of the infrared sensor τ T was about 15 ms. The results demonstrate that the composite infrared sensor show a high detectivity at high chopper frequency, which is an essential advantage in infrared detectors and some other devices.