Characterization of a trap pyroelectric sensor noise and improvement of the measurement range

In this paper, a characterization of trap pyroelectric sensor noise was investigated, by adopting and characterizing a measuring equipment of particular design. The characterization of the background noise of this sensor shows a value of the Noise Equivalent Power (N.E.P) of about 0.146 μW/Hz1/2 which is compared with the results available in the literature. A characterization of the sensor N.E.P using a laser diode in the range of powers going from 100 μW to 40 mW is also presented. This study revealed that the considered trap sensor can provide an absolute measurement of the powers laser starting from 100 μW.