Radiatively heated high voltage pyroelectric crystal pulser

Thin lithium tantalate pyroelectric crystals in a multi-stage pulser were heated by quartz lamps during their charging phase to generate high voltage pulses. The charging voltage was determined empirically based on the measured breakdown voltage in air and verified by the induced breakdown voltage of an external high voltage power supply. A four-stage pyroelectric crystal device generated pulse discharges of up to 86 kV using both quartz lamps (radiative) and thermoelectric (conductive) heating. Approximately 50 mJ of electrical energy was harvested from the crystals when radiatively heated in air, and up to 720 mJ was produced when the crystals were submerged in a dielectric fluid. It is anticipated that joule-level pulse discharges could be obtained by employing additional stages and optimizing the heating configuration.