Fast and Uncooled Semiconducting Ca-Doped Y-Ba-Cu-O Thin Film-Based Thermal Sensors for Infrared.

YBaCuO (YBCO) cuprates are semiconductive when oxygen depleted ( < 0.5). They can be used for uncooled thermal detection in the near-infrared: (i) low temperature deposition on silicon substrates, leading to an amorphous phase (-YBCO); (ii) pyroelectric properties exploited in thermal detectors offering both low noise and fast response above 1 MHz.

Measurable lower limit of thin film conductivity with parallel plate waveguide terahertz time domain spectroscopy.

Parallel plate waveguide (PPWG) terahertz (THz) time domain spectroscopy (TDS) is a powerful tool to investigate the properties of thin and low conductive materials. In this Letter, we determine the lower limit of detection of the PPWG-THz-TDS approach. We provide a closed-form expression of the minimal measurable conductivity by the system.