Nanomachined pyroelectric detector with low thermal conductance — Design and concepts

We report the design of an uncooled pyroelectric detector utilizing a nanometer sized mesh to support the micromachined detector. The design had been optimized by using different geometry and electrodes. The thickness, width and dimension of each layer were changed to achieve the lowest thermal conductance. Ca-modified lead titanate (PCT) was employed as the thermometer in the detector. The design and performance of pyroelectric detectors has been conducted by simulating the structure with Intellisuite™. The simulated detector had spider web-like structure with each of the struts (ring) of spider web 100 nm wide. The pyroelectric detectors utilized a NiCr absorber, PCT sensing layer, Ti electrodes, Al₂O₃ structural layer to obtained lower thermal conductivity between the detector and substrate. The thermal conductance between the sensor and the substrate was found to be as low as 4.57 × 10^-9 W/K.