Dielectric, ferroelectric, and pyroelectric characterization of Mn-doped 0.74Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.26PbTiO3 crystals for infrared detection applications

We investigated the dielectric, ferroelectric, and pyroelectric properties of Mn-doped 0.74Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O-3-0.26PbTiO(3) crystals. Compared with pure PMN-0.26PT, Mn substitutions resulted in reduced dielectric loss and enhanced coercive field. Furthermore, the pyroelectric coefficient and detectivity figures of merits were enhanced to 17.2 x 10(-4) C/m(2) K and 40.2 x 10(-5) Pa-1/2, respectively, which were the highest values so far reported among intrinsic pyroelectric materials with rhombohedral-tetragonal phase transition temperature greater than 90 degrees C. The specific detectivity of infrared detector based on Mn-doped crystals was 1.07 x 10(9) cm, Hz(1/2) W-1, and approximately doubles that of commercial LiTaO3 crystals-based, which makes them promising candidates for infrared detectors applications. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3263139]