Comparisons between PZT and PVDF thick films technologies in the design of low-cost pyroelectric sensors

This paper compares the characteristics of two types of four quadrant pyroelectric sensors, made with screen-printed PZT and PVDF thick films, respectively, which we used for low-cost contactless position determination and laser beam positioning. For the comparison we used their responsivities, measured with a CO2 laser, and their respective noise figures. For sensors designing we simulated the PZT sensor responsivity using an equivalent thermo-electric model already demonstrated for multilayer PVDF sensors. The barely known model parameters of the PZT and electrodes layers were deduced from the best fit of the temporal voltage response to two square wave periodic signals. The peak current responsivity, the bandwidth and the NEP of the various samples indicate PZT most suited for low-noise and PVDF for high frequency and large bandwidth IR laser beam applications, respectively. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.