Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is a very promising material for fabricating flexible infrared sensors due to its ferroelectricity as well as excellent flexibility and low fabrication cost. This work focuses on improving PVDF's pyroelectric performance by creating microstructures in the film. Simulation results suggest that the pyroelectric response of PVDF film can be improved if micro groove, square-pit or sinusoidal patterns are created on the film surface, with the grooved film showing the best pyroelectric performance. Suggested by the simulation results, flexible PVDF samples with groove structure are prepared by casting the precursor solution on the mold with designed patterns. Measurement results demonstrate that the optimal microstructured PVDF film can improve its pyroelectric performance by as high as 146%, which is in good agreement with the simulations. This work provides an innovative way of achieving flexible infrared sensor devices with promoted performance based on pyroelectric polymers.
Keywords: flexible; microstructure; polyvinylidene fluoride; pyroelectric infrared detector.