Modified Lead-zirconate-titanate for Pyroelectric Sensors

Pyroelectric sensors based on ceramic materials have found applications in IR detectionin defence and civil systems. To develop suitable ceramic material for IR detector applications,a modified PZT system with compositional formula Pb1-xSmx(Zr0.58Fe0.18Mn0.02Nb0.2Ti0.02)O3  where0  x  0.025 was synthesised by conventional solid state reaction method. The materials werecharacterised for their properties like dielectric and pyroelectric coefficient. Hysteresis loop wasrecorded at room temperature. The sample with 2 mole per cent samarium (Sm) substitutions wasfound to be more promising for sensor application based on its high material's figure of merit(FOM). Sensors fabricated with this material were integrated with FET amplifier. The devicesconfigured with compensating element were evaluated for different chopping frequencies.  Thevalue of material's FOM, FD, and detectivity, D*, were determined from measured parameters andwere,  3.6 x 10-5 Pa-1/2 and 2 x 108 cmHz1/2/W, respectively

A TEM study on lithium zinc ferrite thin films and the microstructure correlation with the magnetic properties

Sputtered lithium zinc ferrite films were studied using transmission electron microscopy to investigate the microstructure morphology and its correlation with the observed magnetic properties as a function of annealing temperature and time. The present study showed that the films contain nanocrystallites. The observed magnetic order in the films is because of inter granular coupling through low angle grain boundaries. The anomalous magnetic properties observed earlier in these films can be explained on the basis of the presence of large grain boundary volume.© Elsevie