Abstract

Ferroelectric pyroelectric-based optical detectors are presently used for a variety of applications including high-accuracy laser power and energy measurements as well as optical fiber power metrology. The preference is usually based on the following: Compared to competing alternatives such as photodiode-based detectors, pyroelectric detectors may be constructed having a large area with uniform responsivity, a broad uniform spectral response (from the UV to approximately 200 pm in a single device), and to be capable of room temperature operation in the infrared. Among the drawbacks of using pyroelectric-based detectors is that the noise equivalent power (NEP) is relatively high and the acoustic sensitivity has formerly made their use impractical in many measurement environments.¹

© 2002 Optical Society of America