A pyroelectric sensor for system-on-a-chip

A pyroelectric sensor is presented in this paper which can improve the performance of microscale devices in applications where monitoring of fast temperature variations is necessary, such as in the instance of highly degradable biological substances. The proposed sensor demonstrates better performance compared to its traditional counterparts in terms of responsitivity, power supply, and flexibility that make it suitable for integration in a lab-on-a-chip platform. The temperature transducer is made of polyvinylidene-fluoride (PVDF), and features integration with a microfluidic device and the electronic readout circuits. The advantages and uniqueness of the proposed pyroelectric sensor are discussed through a theoretical analysis relating pyroelectric response to temperature variations in the millisecond range.