High Resolution Passive THz Imaging Array with Polarization Reusage in 22nm CMOS

Abstract

A 12-pixel THz Focal Plane Array (FPA), integrated in Global Foundries 22nm CMOS technology, enabling high resolution passive THz imaging, is presented. The array efficiently couples blackbody radiation from 200 GHz to 600 GHz to Schottky Barrier Diodes (SBDs) in a differential topology. An antenna-detector co-design results in an average Noise Equivalent Power (NEP) of 0.9 pW/ sqrt{ text{Hz}}. An extremely small array periodicity is achieved by using two orthogonal polarizations. Such configuration enables passive imaging with a near-diffraction limited resolution while simultaneously maintaining a high optical efficiency of 42%. The array is currently in tape-out and measurements will be presented at the conference.