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Broadband Coverage Optical Sensor with Liquid Crystalline Materials and Pyroelectrics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2011

Jingwen W. Zhang ,
Xiudong Sun  and
Hua Zhao
Jingwen W. Zhang
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China, 150001
Xiudong Sun
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China, 150001
Hua Zhao
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China, 150001
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Abstract

By utilizing a thin layer of supertwisted liquid crystal and potassium sodium strontium barium noibate crystal material with excellent pyroelectric effect, a broadband coverage optical sensing concept was proposed. Coating the pyroelectric substrate with a carbon layer of excellent absorption in the frequency range of interest, the intensity of an incident mid- or far-IR radiation can be converted to a corresponding intensity variation of a reflected near-IR beam via optical modulation of the liquid crystal film. As the result, the spatial intensity distribution of an incident mid- or far-IR radiation can thus be perceived directly by a low-cost semiconductor sensor/ sensor array. With flexible design of wave collecting arrangement, the broadband coverage sensor is suitable for viewing IR-giving objects with a large field-of-view.

Keywords

liquid crystalsensoroptical
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1293: Symposium L – Liquid-Crystal Materials—Beyond Displays , 2011 , mrsf10-1293-l03-04
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2011

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References

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