Temperature dependence of the pyroelectric response of vinylidene fluoride trifluoroethylene copolymer and the effect of its poling conditions

Vinylidene fluoride trifluoroethylene copolymer VDF-TrFE was found to be pyroelectric when poled by application of dc high field. Temperature dependence of its pyroelectric response and the effects of poling conditions were investigated. It was shown that there existed a critical temperature at 70 °C above which pyroelectricity vanished. The pyroelectric coefficient increased with the increase in poling temperature with a tendency to saturation. The pyroelectric coefficient of these samples poled above 70 °C were constantly 9 nc/cm2 K, which is significantly larger than that of any other polymers.