Abstract
Integration of complex optical systems operating in the visible and near-IR range, realized in a CMOS fabrication process with an absolutely ‘no change’ approach, can have a transformative impact in enabling a new class of miniaturized, low-cost, smart optical sensors and imagers for emerging applications. While ‘silicon photonics’ has demonstrated the path towards such advancements in the IR regime, the field of VIS/NIR integrated optics has seen less progress. Therefore, while currently ultra high-density and higher performance image sensors are commonplace in CMOS, all passive optical components (such as lenses, filters, gratings, collimators) that typically constitute a high-performance sensing or imaging system, are typically non-integrated, bulky and expensive, severely limiting their application potential in the space of connected sensors. Here, we present an approach to utilize the embedded copper-based metal interconnect layers in modern CMOS processes with sub-wavelength feature sizes to realize multi-functional nano-optical structures and components. Based on our prior works, we illustrate this electronic-photonic co-design approach exploiting metal/light interactions and integrated electronics in the 400nm-900 nm wavelengths with three design examples. Realized in 65-nm CMOS, these demonstrate for the first time: fully integrated multiplied fluorescence based biosensors with integrated filters, optical spectrometer, and CMOS optical physically unclonable function (PUF). These examples cover a range of optical processing elements in silicon, from deep sub-wavelength nano-optics to diffractive structures. We will demonstrate that when co-designed with embedded photo-detection and signal processing circuitry, this approach can foster millimeter-scale, intelligent optical sensors for a wide range of emerging applications in healthcare, diagnostics, smart sensing, food, air quality, environment monitoring and others.
Highlights
I NTEGRATION of photonic components and systems, operating in the infrared (IR) range, has made tremendous advancements in the last two decades
The approach is to leverage such electromagnetic interaction physics in CMOS processes, which in combination with the embedded electronics, can create a new class of ultra-miniaturized, lowpower sensing and imaging systems manufacturable in a scalable and cost-effective fashion. We illustrate this through three distinct examples: fully integrated fluorescence-based CMOS biosensor with on-chip nanoplasmonic filters, fully integrated optical spectrometer (500-830 nm), and CMOS optical physically unclonable function (PUF)
We present a holistic design approach that utilizes the sub-wavelength lithographic features of embedded metal interconnect layers in a silicon IC to create complex, multi-functional nano-optical passive structures
Summary
I NTEGRATION of photonic components and systems, operating in the infrared (IR) range, has made tremendous advancements in the last two decades. Their feature sizes can be exploited to create integrated, multifunctional optical nanostructures, eliminating traditionally realized external optical elements (Fig 1) While previously, such metal geometries have been shown to allow diffractive structures for angle-sensitive pixels for 3D imaging [26] and polarimetric imaging [27], in this paper, we demonstrate the ability to incorporate 3D-nanoplasmonic structures, components and systems in standard CMOS in the visible range [28][40]. The approach is to leverage such electromagnetic interaction physics in CMOS processes, which in combination with the embedded electronics, can create a new class of ultra-miniaturized, lowpower sensing and imaging systems manufacturable in a scalable and cost-effective fashion We illustrate this through three distinct examples: fully integrated fluorescence-based CMOS biosensor with on-chip nanoplasmonic filters, fully integrated optical spectrometer (500-830 nm), and CMOS optical physically unclonable function (PUF).
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