Multiwall carbon nanotube absorber on a thin-film lithium niobate pyroelectric detector

Abstract

Multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were applied in a bulk layer to a pyroelectric film to increase the detector sensitivity nearly fourfold without a substantial penalty to the low-frequency response (4-100 Hz). In addition, the spectral sensitivity over the wavelength range from 600 to 1800 nm was uniformly enhanced, with variations less than 1%. The results demonstrate the suitability of MWNTs as an efficient thermal absorber having low thermal mass.