PEPR Will count

COMTERA Electronics PEPR: Silicon Terahertz Sensors, 2023-2026

Two different approaches to detection will be developed between the low frequency range (0.3 THz to 3 THz) and the high frequency range (10 THz to 30 THz).

At low frequencies, the project will focus on the following three objectives: i) optimization of bolometers by LETI for incoherent detection in active or passive imaging; ii) development and optimization by L2C of CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) and HBT (Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor) sensors based on silicon technology, operating in the 300-600 GHz range, for applications in the life sciences, particularly in biophysics and agronomy, where water is omnipresent; iii) the development of narrow-band THz detectors in the 0.5-5 THz range based on semiconductor nanocrystals for active multispectral imaging and selective gas detection. Some of these ultra-sensitive sensors will then be integrated into a specially designed imaging system developed by the IMS. A performance comparison will be carried out between the different detector technologies.

In the higher frequency range, components for LIDAR imaging systems will be developed for coherent heterodyne detection (LPENS, IEMN). These components will be based primarily on the technological field of unipolar detectors with multiple quantum wells on III-V semiconductors. The target spectral band is between 20 and 30 THz, which corresponds to a transparency window in the atmosphere. The main objective is to improve the performance of current detectors in terms of bandwidth, responsivity, and integration capacity on readout circuits for applications in the fields of the environment, industrial process control, and security/defense (volatile explosives, etc.). 

Consortium:

• Physics Laboratory of the École Normale Supérieure, UMR 8023
• CEA-LETI
• The Institute of Electronics, Microelectronics, and Nanotechnology
• Charles Coulomb Laboratory, UMR 5221
• Laboratory for Material-System Integration, UMR 5218