In this work an antenna-coupled diode-based microbolometer implemented in a 0.35μm CMOS technology with a lowcost maskless micromachining post-process is proposed. The device is suspended above the substrate on an oxide membrane by removing the silicon underneath. It is composed of an antenna connected to a matched load, which heats up proportionally to the captured electromagnetic radiation, and heat sensing elements. These elements consist of several series polysilicon diodes placed near the antenna load, while an identical set of diodes is also included as a reference to track ambient temperature variations. Theoretical calculations and preliminary temperature characterization of polysilicon diodes have been performed. Different antenna sizes have been used so as to obtain detectors for 0.5THz, 1.0THz, and 2.0THz frequency operation. Thanks to the use of a standard CMOS technology, in the same chip a custom designed readout circuit has been integrated with the objective to maximize the performance of the detectors through signal amplification and filtering.
A diode-based bolometer implemented on micromachined CMOS technology for terahertz radiation detection
Perenzoni, Matteo;Domingues, Suzana
2012-01-01
Abstract
In this work an antenna-coupled diode-based microbolometer implemented in a 0.35μm CMOS technology with a lowcost maskless micromachining post-process is proposed. The device is suspended above the substrate on an oxide membrane by removing the silicon underneath. It is composed of an antenna connected to a matched load, which heats up proportionally to the captured electromagnetic radiation, and heat sensing elements. These elements consist of several series polysilicon diodes placed near the antenna load, while an identical set of diodes is also included as a reference to track ambient temperature variations. Theoretical calculations and preliminary temperature characterization of polysilicon diodes have been performed. Different antenna sizes have been used so as to obtain detectors for 0.5THz, 1.0THz, and 2.0THz frequency operation. Thanks to the use of a standard CMOS technology, in the same chip a custom designed readout circuit has been integrated with the objective to maximize the performance of the detectors through signal amplification and filtering.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
