Detection of 3.0 THz wave with a detector in 65 nm standard CMOS process

Abstract

This paper reports a 3.0 THz detector which can detect the terahertz wave radiated by a quantum cascade laser (QCL) working at pulse mode. The detector was implemented in a 65 nm silicon CMOS process. The chip size is 1.5×l.5 mm2 including bonding pads. THz detector using FET is based on plasma wave theory proposed by Dyakonov and Shur which allows detection of THz radiations far beyond the FET devices characteristic frequency (f T ). The detector was measured by means of lock-in techniques and can achieve a room-temperature responsivity of 526 V/W and a noise equivalent power (NEP) of 73 pW/Hz1/2. We acquired a high resolution image of a tooth pick by raster-scanning technique, and Ultra-fine brushes can be clearly distinguished. Our results demonstrate a promising application in low-cost CMOS THz camera for high resolution imaging.