Fast pyroelectric response of semiconducting YBaCuO detectors with high IR sensitivity; development of THz imaging arrays

YBa2Cu3O6+x oxides are semiconducting for x < 0.5 and are amorphous (a-YBCO) at low deposition temperature (100 °C, typically). a-YBCO also exhibits pyroelectric properties. Metal/a-YBCO planar micro-structures were processed to fabricate IR sensors. When unbiased, the device exhibited a pyroelectric near-infrared response as f ⁺¹ up to about 35 kHz, followed by a slow thermally diffusive decrease as f ^−1/2 up to about 3 MHz. NEP was measured below 15 pW/Hz^½, with detectivity D^∗ above 10⁹ cm·Hz^1/2·W⁻¹ in the 500 Hz to 100 kHz range. 32×32 arrays of THz log-periodic planar antennas to be coupled with a-YBCO patches were also designed.