scholarly journals Array of Resonant Electromechanical Nanosystems: A Technological Breakthrough for Uncooled Infrared Imaging

Micromachines ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Duraffourg ◽  
Ludovic Laurent ◽  
Jean-Sébastien Moulet ◽  
Julien Arcamone ◽  
Jean-Jacques Yon
Keyword(s):  
Infrared Imaging ◽  
Thermal Response ◽  
Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor ◽  
Oxide Semiconductor ◽  
Integration Time ◽  
Ir Radiation ◽  
Torsional Mode ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Frequency Changes ◽  
Uncooled Infrared Imaging

Microbolometers arethe most common uncooled infrared techniques that allow 50 mK-temperature resolution to be achieved on-scene. However, this approach struggles with both self-heating, which is inherent to the resistive readout principle, and 1/f noise. We present an alternative approach that consists of using micro/nanoresonators vibrating according to a torsional mode, and whose resonant frequency changes with the incident IR-radiation. Dense arrays of such electromechanical structures were fabricated with a 12 µm pitch at low temperature, allowing their integration on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) circuits according to a post-processing method. H-shape pixels with 9 µm-long nanorods and a cross-section of 250 nm × 30 nm were fabricated to provide large thermal responses, whose experimental measurements reached up to 1024 Hz/nW. These electromechanical resonators featured a noise equivalent power of 140 pW for a response time of less than 1 ms. To our knowledge, these performances are unrivaled with such small dimensions. We also showed that a temperature sensitivity of 20 mK within a 100 ms integration time is conceivable at a 12 µm pitch by co-integrating the resonators with their readout electronics, and suggesting a new readout scheme. This sensitivity could be reached short-term by depositing on top of the nanorods a vanadium oxide layer that had a phase-transition that could possibly enhance the thermal response by one order of magnitude.

scholarly journals Array of Resonant Electromechanical Nanosystems: A Technological Breakthrough for Uncooled Infrared Imaging

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Duraffourg ◽  
Ludovic Laurent ◽  
Jean-Sébastien Moulet ◽  
Julien Arcamone ◽  
Jean-Jacques Yon
Keyword(s):  
Infrared Imaging ◽  
Thermal Response ◽  
Integration Time ◽  
Ir Radiation ◽  
Torsional Mode ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Nano Rods ◽  
Frequency Changes ◽  
Uncooled Infrared Imaging

Microbolometer is the most common uncooled infrared technique that allows to achieve 50mK-temperature resolution on the scene. However, this approach has to struggle with both the self-heating inherent to the resistive readout principle and the 1/f noise. We present an alternative approach that consists in using micro / nanoresonators vibrating according to a torsional mode, and whose resonant frequency changes with the incident IR-radiation. Dense arrays of such electromechanical structures were fabricated with a 12µm-pitch at low temperature allowing their integration on CMOS circuits according to a post-processing method. H-shape pixels with 9 µm-long nano-rods and a cross-section of 250 × 30 nm² were fabricated to provide large thermal responses, whose experimental measurements reached up to 1024 Hz/nW. These electromechanical resonators featured a noise equivalent power of 140pW for a response time of less than 1 ms. To our knowledge, these performance are unrivaled with such small dimensions. We also showed that a temperature sensitivity of 20 mK within 100ms-integration time is conceivable at a 12µm-pitch by co-integrating the resonators with their readout electronics and suggesting a new readout scheme. This sensitivity could be reached at short-term by depositing on top of the nano-rods a vanadium oxide layer having a phase-transition that could possibly enhance the thermal response by one order of magnitude.

scholarly journals High Dynamic Range Imaging with TDC-Based CMOS SPAD Arrays

Instruments ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Majid Zarghami ◽  
Leonardo Gasparini ◽  
Matteo Perenzoni ◽  
Lucio Pancheri
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Range ◽  
Single Photon ◽  
Photon Counting ◽  
Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor ◽  
High Dynamic Range ◽  
Oxide Semiconductor ◽  
Photon Flux ◽  
Integration Time ◽  
Rate Dependent ◽  
High Dynamic

This paper investigates the use of image sensors based on complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) in high dynamic range (HDR) imaging by combining photon counts and timestamps. The proposed method is validated experimentally with an SPAD detector based on a per-pixel time-to-digital converter (TDC) architecture. The detector, featuring 32 × 32 pixels with 44.64-µm pitch, 19.48% fill factor, and time-resolving capability of ~295-ps, was fabricated in a 150-nm CMOS standard technology. At high photon flux densities, the pixel output is saturated when operating in photon-counting mode, thus limiting the DR of this imager. This limitation can be overcome by exploiting the distribution of photon arrival times in each pixel, which shows an exponential behavior with a decay rate dependent on the photon flux level. By fitting the histogram curve with the exponential decay function, the extracted time constant is used to estimate the photon count. This approach achieves 138.7-dB dynamic range within 30-ms of integration time, and can be further extended by using a timestamping mechanism with a higher resolution.

scholarly journals TiO2-x films for bolometer applications: recent progress and perspectives

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiming Zhang ◽  
Ruiyang Yan ◽  
Xiaoyan Peng ◽  
YuShui Wang ◽  
Shuanglong Feng
Keyword(s):  
Infrared Imaging ◽  
Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor ◽  
Oxide Semiconductor ◽  
Cmos Process ◽  
Performance Parameters ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Temperature Coefficient Of Resistance ◽  
Sensitive Material ◽  
Good Thermal Stability ◽  
Photoelectric Performance

Abstract The bolometer is widely used in military and civilian infrared imaging due to its advantages of non-cooling, small size and portability. Thermosensitive materials seriously affect the performance of bolometers. As a kind of heat-sensitive material, the TiO2-x material has the advantages of good thermal stability, large-area preparation, and compatibility with the complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process. However, there is almost no review on the application of titanium oxide for bolometers. In this paper, we introduce the bolometer's main thermal and photoelectric performance parameters and the critical technologies to manufacture the bolometer. Finally, we will particularly emphasize the effects of preparation process parameters of TiO2 on the performance parameters temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR), 1/f noise, etc., were studied.

A Bulk Micromachined Cantilever Array for Uncooled Infrared Imaging

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuliang Yi ◽  
Shenglin Ma ◽  
Xiaomei Yu ◽  
Ming Liu ◽  
Xiaohua Liu
Keyword(s):  
Infrared Imaging ◽  
Sacrificial Layer ◽  
Ir Radiation ◽  
Deep Reactive Ion Etching ◽  
Optical Readout ◽  
Layer Technique ◽  
Cantilever Array ◽  
Noise Equivalent Temperature Difference ◽  
The One ◽  
Uncooled Infrared Imaging

This paper presents a bi-material microcantilever focal plane array (FPA) for uncooled infrared (IR) imaging. The FPA was fabricated by a bulk silicon micromachining method with substrate silicon selectively removed by deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) technique at the area where each cantilever pixel is located. The absorbance of the IR radiation can be improved by 48% due to the selective removal of the substrate, and hence the noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) of the FPA can be reduced by 32% compared to the one fabricated by sacrificial layer technique, approaching 60mK. The thermomechanical sensitivity and the response time of the FPA were measured and calculated to be 112nm/K and 15ms, respectively. An image of human bodies was captured by an optical readout method.

scholarly journals Homodyne Spectroscopy with Broadband Terahertz Power Detector Based on 90-nm Silicon CMOS Transistor

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 412
Author(s):  
Kęstutis Ikamas ◽  
Dmytro B. But ◽  
Alvydas Lisauskas
Keyword(s):  
Continuous Wave ◽  
Detection System ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor ◽  
Oxide Semiconductor ◽  
Integration Time ◽  
Thz Spectroscopy ◽  
Homodyne Detection ◽  
Cmos Transistor

Over the last two decades, photomixer-based continuous wave systems developed into versatile and practical tools for terahertz (THz) spectroscopy. The high responsivity to the THz field amplitude of photomixer-based systems is predetermined by the homodyne detection principle that allows the system to have high sensitivity. Here, we show that the advantages of homodyne detection can be exploited with broadband power detectors combined with two photomixer sources. For this, we employ a THz detector based on a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor and a broadband bow-tie antenna (TeraFET). At 500 GHz and an effective noise bandwidth of 1 Hz, the response from one photomixer-based THz source resulted in an about 43 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). We demonstrate that by employing a homodyne detection system by overlaying the radiation from two photomixers, the SNR can reach up to 70 dB at the same frequency with an integration time 100 ms. The improvement in SNR and the spectroscopic evidence for water vapor lines demonstrated up to 2.2 THz allow us to conclude that these detectors can be successfully used in practical continuous wave THz spectrometry systems.

An Improved Thermal Type Microsensor with Thermal Isolation Microcracks

2010 ◽  
Vol 97-101 ◽  
pp. 4230-4233
Author(s):  
Yun Zi Cai ◽  
Chih Hsiung Shen ◽  
Shu Jung Chen
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flow ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Infrared Detector ◽  
Thermal Conductance ◽  
Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor ◽  
Oxide Semiconductor ◽  
Main Stream ◽  
Infrared Sensors ◽  
Ir Radiation ◽  
Highly Sensitive

A new idea of improving complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) thermopile performance is introduced to reduce the thermal conductance by leading the microcracks into structure of thermopile, which greatly increases the heat flow barrier. A highly sensitive infrared detector requires a low thermal conductance to maximize the temperature change and signal induced by incident IR radiation. Several designs of infrared microsensors are proposed to study influential parameters from microcrack for improving performance of thermopile. To that end, by using some adequate designs of polysilicon architecture, we can greatly reduce the heat flow from the main stream without introducing further electric resistance, which is related with noise. Firstly we develop such a structure of thermopile with low thermal conductance and high performance by using CMOS compatible process which can be easily and exactly fabricated. The suspended structure of infrared sensors is used in this study to provide ideal, thermally isolated, structures for support of the thin film detector. We also simulate the heat flow of the new structures. The results show good match with our original idea.

Lateral transistor structure optimization with respect to current gain

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (8) ◽  
pp. 991-994
Author(s):  
Ljubisa Ristic ◽  
Henry P. Baltes ◽  
Igor Filanovsky ◽  
David R. Briglio ◽  
Tom Smy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electric Field ◽  
Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor ◽  
Oxide Semiconductor ◽  
Current Gain ◽  
Bottom Surface ◽  
Transistor Structure ◽  
Lateral Electric Field ◽  
Neutral Base ◽  
Additional Processing ◽  
Order Of Magnitude

An investigation of a novel lateral transistor structure fabricated in standard 4 μm complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology without any additional processing steps is presented. Inherent in the structure is the potential of modulating the lateral electric field in the neutral base region. An additional characteristic of this structure is the reduced bottom surface of the emitter, which diminishes the parasitic action of vertically injected carriers. The results show that because of the lateral electric field, the common-emitter static current gain at high currents can be increased by at least an order of magnitude.

scholarly journals An E-Band 21-dB Variable-Gain Amplifier with 0.5-V Supply in 40-nm CMOS

Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 804
Author(s):  
Gibeom Shin ◽  
Kyunghwan Kim ◽  
Kangseop Lee ◽  
Hyun-Hak Jeong ◽  
Ho-Jin Song
Keyword(s):  
Power Consumption ◽  
Frequency Band ◽  
Noise Figure ◽  
Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor ◽  
Oxide Semiconductor ◽  
Operating Frequency ◽  
Variable Gain Amplifier ◽  
Variable Gain ◽  
Operating Frequency Band ◽  
Shunt Capacitors

This paper presents a variable-gain amplifier (VGA) in the 68–78 GHz range. To reduce DC power consumption, the drain voltage was set to 0.5 V with competitive performance in the gain and the noise figure. High-Q shunt capacitors were employed at the gate terminal of the core transistors to move input matching points for easy matching with a compact transformer. The four stages amplifier fabricated in 40-nm bulk complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) showed a peak gain of 24.5 dB at 71.3 GHz and 3‑dB bandwidth of more than 10 GHz in 68–78 GHz range with approximately 4.8-mW power consumption per stage. Gate-bias control of the second stage in which feedback capacitances were neutralized with cross-coupled capacitors allowed us to vary the gain by around 21 dB in the operating frequency band. The noise figure was estimated to be better than 5.9 dB in the operating frequency band from the full electromagnetic (EM) simulation.

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