Solid State Heat Throttle for Pyroelectrics

Abstract

The work presented here demonstrates a solid-state solution for cooling pyroelectric sensors allowing for pyroelectric miniaturization, array implementation, and increased fieldability by eliminating the need for an optical chopper. Leveraging the electrocaloric effect in lithium niobate, a solid-state heat throttle was used in place of an optical chopper for signal modulation to prevent saturation of a pyroeolectic sensor. The sensor itself is also novel consisting of a translucent electrode design which shows 2.5 times amplitude improvement in signal capture over more traditional coating deigns in the range between 750-1400 nm. The sensor combined with the heat throttle produced superior signal capture with no optical optical chopper required.