Triglycine sulphate/selenate solid solutions for pyroelectric applications

Abstract

The triglycine sulphate-triglycine selenate system is surveyed with particular reference to pyroelectric detector applications. Measurements on single crystals grown with a range of S: Se ratios showed that X-irradiation and alanine doping have analogous effects to those in TGS. The properties of LATGS/Se were found particularly promising in terms of calculated detector performance for a range of conditions. Detectors have been made of these compositions and show low frequency performance corresponding to the calculated limit due to lateral thermal conduction. A detector 15 μm thick had D* = 1.4 × 109 W-1 Hz1/2 cm at 10 Hz and retained a similar performance up to 40°C. The best D* measured was on a 15 μm thick element where D* = 2 × 109 W-1 Hz1/2 cm at 3 Hz.