Reducing the capacitance of piezoelectric film sensors

Abstract

We present a novel design for large area, wideband, polymer piezoelectric sensor with low capacitance. The large area allows better spatial resolution in applications such as photoacoustic tomography and the reduced capacitance eases the design of fast transimpedance amplifiers. The metalized piezoelectric polymer thin film is segmented into N sections, electrically connected in series. In this way, the total capacitance is reduced by a factor 1/N2, whereas the mechanical response and the active area of the sensor are not modified. We show the construction details for a two-section sensor, together with the impedance spectroscopy and impulse response experimental results that validate the design.