An integrated 16/spl times/16 PVDF pyroelectric sensor array

Abstract

This paper presents a fully integrated PVDF-on-silicon pyroelectric sensor array. The pyroelectric sensor has two main features: a subpixel low noise charge amplifier and a self-absorbing layered structure. The integrated low noise charge amplifier is implemented in a standard CMOS process technology. It is located directly under the sensing structure, maximizing the pixel fill factor. The self-absorbing pyroelectric sensor is a three-layer stack, consisting of a conductive polymer as an absorber layer and front electrode, a thin PVDF film as the pyroelectric material, and a rear metal layer acting as a reflector layer and rear electrode. The manufacture of the pyroelectric sensor array requires five maskless post-CMOS processing steps and is compatible with any n-well, double metal, double polysilicon, CMOS process. The array has an average pixel voltage sensitivity of 2200 V/W at 100 Hz, an NEP of 2.4/spl times/10/sup -11/ W//spl radic/Hz at 100 Hz, and a specific detectivity of 4.4/spl times/10/sup 8/ cm /spl radic/Hz/W at 100 Hz.

Polarization imaging in ferroelectric polymer thin film capacitors by pyroelectric scanning microscopy

“…The results agree well with a thermal model implemented numerically using finite element analysis. Ferroelectric materials have been the subject of increasing interest in recent decades, largely because of the development of methods for thin film and nanostructure fabrication, and subsequent integration into a wide range of electronic technologies, such as thermometry and thermal imaging, 1,2 electromechanical transducers, 3 nonvolatile memories, 4 organic electronics, 5 and energy storage, 6 as well as promising applications to organic photovoltaics, 7 solid-state energy harvesting, and refrigeration. 8,9 To further improve the performance and utility of ferroelectric materials, it is essential to be able to measure the spatial distribution of the polarization at high resolution.…”

Fabrication and characterization of integrated uncooled infrared sensor arrays using a-Si thin-film transistors as active elements

“…For a quarter-wave optical cavity, researchers commonly fabricate an air gap which, for maximum absorptance at 10 wavelength, means that the sensor is separated from the back surface reflector by a gap of about 2.5 [4], [19]. Some groups do not use this air gap, but certain dielectric materials with appropriate refractive index to form the resonant cavity [5], [20], [28].…”

Ferroelectric Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Thin Films Grown by Low‐Pressure Chemical Vapor Polymerization

“…[1] Among the few such polymers, poly(vinylidene fluoride)(PVDF) is widely studied and several device applications in nonvolatile solidstate memories, [2] thermal imaging, [3] sensors, [4] transducers, [5] radiation detectors, [6] energy conversion, [1,7] etc., have emerged. For most applications, PVDF films with enhanced ferroelectric properties are required since it has been established that coefficients of both piezo-and pyroactivity increase linearly with remnant polarization.…”