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handbook of modern sensors

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428 14 Light Detectors<br />

(A)<br />

(B)<br />

(C)<br />

Fig. 14.20. Thermopile for detecting thermal radiation: (A) Equivalent schematic with a reference<br />

temperature sensor attached; x and y are different materials; (B) micromachined thermopile<br />

sensor; note the semiconductor reference temperature sensor on the silicon frame where<br />

the cold junctions are deposited and the absorptive coating on the hot junctions in the center<br />

<strong>of</strong> the membrane; (C) sensor in a TO-5 packaging.<br />

increase depends on the thermal capacity, thermal conductivity, and intensity <strong>of</strong> the<br />

infrared light.<br />

The best performance <strong>of</strong> a thermopile is characterized by high sensitivity and low<br />

noise, which may be achieved by the junction materials having a high thermoelectric<br />

coefficient α, low thermal conductivity, and low volume resistivity. In addition, the<br />

junction pairs should have thermoelectric coefficients <strong>of</strong> the opposite signs. This dictates<br />

the selection <strong>of</strong> the materials. Unfortunately, most <strong>of</strong> metals having low electrical<br />

resistivity (gold, copper, silver) have only very poor thermoelectric coefficients. The<br />

higher-electrical-resistivity metals (especially bismuth and antimony) possess high<br />

thermoelectric coefficients and they are the prime selection for designing thermopiles.<br />

By doping these materials with Se and Te, the thermoelectric coefficient has been improved<br />

up to 230 µVK −1 [5].

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