Langmuir-Blodgett film pyroelectric heat sensors

Copolysiloxane - eicosylamine polar molecular assemblies, built up using the alternate layer Langmuir-

Blodgett (LB) film deposition technique, have been shown to possess very high quasi-static pyroelectric

coefficients compared to other LB film systems. Indeed, values around 10 pCm-2K-1 at 303K represent a level

of activity which is nearly 30% of that exhibited by commercially available polyvinylidenedifluoride (PVF2)

pyroelectric heat sensors. Data are presented in this paper to demonstrate the reproducibility of the

pyroelectric response and its temperature dependence. Furthermore, preliminary studies of the dielectric

behaviour of these polar films have shown that the low frequency ( ~ 5 0H0z )d ielectric loss is about 0.01 but a

dielectric relaxa t i p occurs at around 4 kHz.