Large Pyroelectric Response from Reactively Sputtered Aluminum Nitride Thin Films

The pyroelectric response of c-axis oriented, undoped, wurtzite, aluminium nitride reactively sputtered onto polished silicon wafers is reported. The voltage between a metallic contact on the AlN surface and the n+-doped silicon substrate was monitored during pulsed infrared, radiant heating. From analysis of the data, a pyroelectric voltage coefficient, in excess of 0.5 x 10 exp(6) V/m /K was extracted for films in the 600 to 2500 Angstrom thickness range. 17 refs.