Development of One-Dimensional Pyroelectric Infrared Array Detector with High Sensitivity

A one-dimensional pyroelectric array detector for use as a multielement infrared sensor has been developed by using PbTiO3 bulk ceramics fabricated by a sheet-forming method. This one-dimensional infrared sensor consists of 16 elements. A pyroelectric detector responsivity of 3×104 V/W can be obtained at a 10 Hz chopping frequency, and a specific detectivity D* of 1.2×108 cmHz1/2/W has been achieved. The time constant of this pyroelectric detector is about 5.2 ms, so the detector has a shorter response time compared with a commercially available conventional pyroelectric detector. The crosstalk, which influences the output for the adjacent elements, is less than 10%. The output voltage for the detector gradually decreased as the atmospheric temperature increased. Pyroelectric detector responsivity increases with decreasing electrode size. By using this high-performance pyroelectric array detector, the thermal sources at lower temperatures than that of the environment can be detected with high sensitivity, as much as in the case of the thermal sources at higher temperatures.