Terahertz real-time camera based on uncooled silicon-based antenna and resonant cavity coupled bolometer array
Dr François Simoens, CEA-Leti MINATEC, France
Abstract
The development of Terahertz (THz) applications is slowed down by the availability of affordable, easy-to-use and highly-sensitive detectors. CEA-LETI took up this challenge by tailoring the mature Infrared (IR) bolometer technology for optimized THz sensing. The key feature of these detectors relies on the separation between electromagnetic absorption and the thermometer: for each pixel specific structures of antennas and a resonant quarter-wavelength cavity couple efficiently the THz radiation on a broadband range, while a central silicon microbridge bolometer resistance is read-out by a CMOS circuit providing high signal to noise ratio. 320x240 pixel arrays have been designed and manufactured: better than 30 pW power direct detection threshold per pixel has been demonstrated in the 2-4THz range. Such performance is expected on the whole THz range by proper tailoring of the antennas while keeping the technological stack unchanged.
This paper first reports the latest performance characterizations. Then imaging demonstrations are described, such as terahertz spectro-imaging techniques applied to concealed sugar pellets identification, real-time reflectance imaging of large surface of hidden objects and THz TDS beam 2D profiling. Then perspectives of camera integration for scientific and industrials applications are discussed.
Co-author: Jérôme Meilhan, CEA Leti-MINATEC
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Dr François Simoens, CEA-Leti MINATEC, France
Dr François Simoens, CEA-Leti MINATEC, France
François Simoens received his PhD degree in electronics from the French Pierre & Marie CURIE University (Paris 6) in 2002 in the field of particle accelerating cavity. He first got involved in electromagnetic compatibility modeling at ONERA, radar prototyping in ESCPI (Paris High school) and optoelectronics for phased-array antennas in Dassault Electronique. After seven years of research in the accelerator field at CEA Saclay, he joined CEA-Leti in Grenoble in 2003, where he was involved in the development of the sub-millimeter PACS focal plane array (for the ESA Herschel satellite) and in uncooled infrared bolometer technology. Since 2005, he has been acting as project manager (FP7, Euripides projects). Currently, he is manager of Strategic Programs for Imaging at Leti, and is expert in infrared and THz detection where bolometer and CMOS technologies are applied.
Integrated Photon Counting Technologies: CMOS and Beyond
Professor Edoardo Charbon, TU Delft, Netherlands
Abstract
Photon counting has been used in many fields of science, medicine, and engineering for decades, contributing to important inventions, such as single-photon emission computed spectroscopy (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET), fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), and quantum cryptography. The evolution from single pixel to multi-pixel photon counters, and the implementation of CMOS sensors has accelerated the impact of this technology and expanded the field of applications.
Until recently, photomultiplier tubes have been the detector of choice for photon counting applications; the emergence of solid-state silicon photomultipliers and single-photon imaging has changed the status quo creating a true revolution and triggering an impressive series of innovations in high-energy physics, medical imaging and diagnostics, instrumentation, and consumer electronics.
In this talk, I will outline the advantages of solid-state photon counting in imaging applications and I will show how it is achieved in existing CMOS processes. I will discuss several technology directions in advanced, deep-submicron technologies and the emergence of new materials for extended spectra of detection and ultra-high speed of operation.
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Professor Edoardo Charbon, TU Delft, Netherlands
Professor Edoardo Charbon, TU Delft, Netherlands
Edoardo Charbon (SM’10) received the Diploma from ETH Zurich in 1988, the MS degree from UCSD in 1991, and the PhD degree from UC-Berkeley in 1995, all in Electrical Engineering and EECS. From 1995 to 2000 he was with Cadence Design Systems; from 2000 to 2002 he was Canesta Inc’s Chief Architect, leading the development of wireless 3-D CMOS image sensors; Canesta was sold to Microsoft Corp in 2010. Since November 2002, he has been a member of the Faculty of EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland and in fall 2008 he joined the Faculty of TU Delft, as Chair of VLSI design, succeeding Patrick Dewilde. Dr Charbon has consulted for numerous organizations including Texas Instruments, Hewlett-Packard and the Carlyle Group. He has published over 200 articles in technical journals and conference proceedings and two books, and he holds 14 patents. He was the initiator and coordinator of MEGAFRAME, a European project aimed at the creation of CMOS single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) arrays with in-pixel time-to-digital conversion for advanced imaging. He is also the coordinator of SPADnet, a European project investigating large format SPAD arrays for medical imaging and cancer detection. Dr Charbon is the co-recipient of the European Photonics Innovation Village Award and has served as Guest Editor of the Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems and the Journal of Solid-State Circuits; he also served in the technical committees of IEDM, ESSCIRC/ESSDERC, ICECS, ISLPED, and VLSI-SOC. His research interests include medical image sensors, time-resolved imaging, quantum communications, and design automation algorithms.
Attojoule optoelectronics?
Professor David Miller, FRS, Stanford University, USA
Abstract
Recently, motivated by potential use in short-distance optical interconnects, optoelectronic devices with single femtojoule operating energies have been demonstrated, making them comparable in energy to some current logic gates. Can optoelectronics continue to scale to even lower, attojoule energies? How could we make such devices? What nanophotonic concepts, such as nanoresonators or nanometallic field concentration, would they exploit? Could we integrate these with electronics for very low energy systems? As scaling in electronic devices becomes more difficult, would such optoelectronics even take over any of the logic functions? What new system performance might be possible?
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Professor David Miller, FRS, Stanford University, USA
Professor David Miller, FRS, Stanford University, USA
David A B Miller received his PhD from Heriot-Watt University in Physics in 1979. He was with Bell Laboratories from 1981 to 1996, as a department head from 1987. He is currently the W M Keck Professor of Electrical Engineering, and a Co-Director of the Stanford Photonics Research Center at Stanford University. His research interests include physics and devices in nanophotonics, nanometallics, and quantum-well optoelectronics, and fundamentals and applications of optics in information sensing, interconnection, and processing. He has published more than 250 scientific papers and the text “Quantum Mechanics for Scientists and Engineers”, holds 69 patents, has received numerous awards, is a Fellow of OSA, IEEE, APS, the Royal Society of London, and the Royal Society of Edinburgh, holds two honorary degrees, and is a Member of the US National Academy of Sciences and the US National Academy of Engineering.
Analog synthetic biology: from cells to electronics and electronics to cells
Professor Rahul Sarpeshkar, MIT, USA
Abstract
Analog electronic circuits and circuits in cell biology are deeply similar: the equations that describe noisy electronic flow in sub-threshold transistors and the equations that describe noisy molecular flow in chemical reactions, both of which obey the laws of exponential thermodynamics, are astoundingly similar. Based on this similarity, we show how to map analog electronic circuit motifs to analog DNA-protein circuit motifs in cells. In addition, highly computationally intensive noisy DNA-protein and protein-protein networks can be rapidly simulated in mixed-signal supercomputing chips that naturally capture their noisiness, dynamics, and loading interactions at lightning-fast speeds. Such an approach may enable large-scale design and analysis in synthetic and systems biology. Experimental results from synthetic analog circuits in living cells with applications in biotechnology, medicine, bio sensing, and energy generation will be discussed.
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Professor Rahul Sarpeshkar, MIT, USA
Professor Rahul Sarpeshkar, MIT, USA
Rahul Sarpeshkar obtained Bachelor’s degrees in Electrical Engineering and Physics at MIT. After completing his PhD at CalTech, he joined Bell Labs as a member of the technical staff in their department of biological computation. He is currently on the faculty of MIT's Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, where he heads a research group on Analog Circuits and Biological Systems (http://www.rle.mit.edu/acbs/). He holds over 30 patents and has authored more than 120 publications, including one that was featured on the cover of Nature. His recent book, Ultra Low Power Bioelectronics: Fundamentals, Biomedical Applications, and Bio-inspired Systems has pioneered a unique ‘cytomorphic’ approach for advancing systems and synthetic biology through the universal language of analog circuits. It also provides a broad and deep treatment of the fields of ultra low power electronics and bioelectronics with applications to medical devices for the deaf, blind, paralyzed, and for cardiac monitoring. He has won several awards for his interdisciplinary bioengineering research including the NSF Career award, the ONR Young Investigator award, and the Packard Fellow award given to outstanding faculty. He was a speaker at the 2011 ‘Frontiers of Engineering’ conference hosted by the National Academy of Engineering. His recent work on a glucose fuel cell for medical implants was featured by BBC Radio, the Economist, and Science News.