PEPR Count

PEPR Electronique COMPTERA: Silicon Terahertz Sensors, 2023-2026

Two different detection approaches 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 on silicon technology, operating in the 300-600 GHz range, for applications in the living world, particularly in biophysics and agronomy where water is omnipresent; iii) development of narrow-band THz detectors in the 0.5-5 THz range based on semiconductor nanocrystals for active multi-spectral imaging and selective gas detection. Some of these ultra-sensitive sensors will then be integrated into an imaging system specially designed by 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 heterodyne coherent detection (LPENS, IEMN). These components will be based mainly on single-pole detectors with multiple quantum wells on III-V semiconductors. The target spectral band is between 20 and 30 GHz, corresponding to a window of atmospheric transparency. The main objective is to improve the performance of current detectors, in terms of bandwidth, responsivity and readout circuit integration capability, for applications in the environmental, industrial process control and security/defense fields (volatile explosives, etc.). 

Consortium:

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