Silicon Integrated 280 GHz Imaging Chipset With 4 4 SiGe Receiver Array and CMOS Source

In this paper, we report an integrated silicon-based active imaging chipset with a detector array in 0.13 m SiGe process and a CMOS-based source array operating in the 240–290 GHz range. The chipset operates at room-temperature with no external RF or optical sources, high-resistivity silicon lenses (HRSi) or waveguides or any custom fabrication options, such as high-resistivity substrates or substrate thinning. The receiver chip consists of a 2-D array of 16 pixels, measuring 2.5 mm 2.5 mm with integrated antennas. An electromagnetic-active circuit co-design approach is carried out to ensure high-efficiency interface with detectors operating above cut-off frequencies with good impedance matching, near-optimal noise performance, while simultaneously suppressing the dominant surface-wave modes in a lensless lossy bulk silicon substrate. The array performance is characterized in the WR-3 band between 220–320 GHz. At the designed frequency of 260 GHz, the NEP of all pixels stays between 7.9 pW Hz–8.8 pW Hz. The imaging chipset consists of this 2D detector array chip and a CMOS-based source array chip measuring 0.8 mm 0.8 mm. The entire system dissipates less than 180 mW of DC power, representing a truly integrated solution.