Characterization of a Large-Area Pyroelectric Detector from 300 GHz to 30 THz

The national metrology institute of Germany, the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), together with the company Sensor and Lasertechnik (SLT), develops pyroelectric detectors for radiation in the terahertz (THz) spectral range. The intention of this development is to deliver a highly sensitive, accurately calibrated detector for power measurement in the power range of time-domain spectroscopy (TDS) systems. This work reports about a large-area thin-film pyroelectric (TFP) detector applicable within a wide spectral range from 300 GHz to 30 THz and its radiometric characterization by PTB’s THz radiation sources. Applying coherent synchrotron radiation from the Metrology Light Source (MLS), laser radiation from a molecular gas laser and blackbody radiation from a water-heated blackbody to this detector reveal its potential to be capable of spanning an even wider THz frequency range than covered by TDS systems. To demonstrate this, its spectral responsivity was measured at different frequencies between 300 GHz and 30 THz by means of those three THz radiation sources.