(Keynote) Devices in CMOS for Terahertz Circuits and Systems

Abstract

CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Silicon) integrated circuits (IC’s) technology is emerging as a means for realization of capable and affordable systems that operate at 300GHz and higher. Despite the fact that the unity maximum available gain frequency, fmax of NMOS transistors has peaked at ~320GHz somewhere between 65 and 32-nm technology nodes, signal generation up to 1.3THz and coherent detection up to 410GHz and incoherent detection up to ~10THz have been demonstrated using CMOS integrated circuits. Furthermore, a highly integrated rotational spectroscopy transceiver operating up to near 300GHz and imaging array operating at 820GHz have been demonstrated in CMOS. The nonlinear devices and circuit techniques that enable the operation at these frequencies beyond fmax will be described. Lastly, emerging applications, electronic nose/smelling using rotational spectroscopy that can detect and quantify concentrations of a wide variety of gases, imaging that can enable operation of autonomous systems in a wide range of weather conditions (rain, dust, snow, fog .. ), high-bandwidth communication over 1-2m long dielectric waveguides that can rival the bandwidth of optical communication systems, and electronic detectors that can make thermal imaging/night vision affordable will be discussed.