This PFI: Accelerating Innovation Research (AIR) Technology Translation (TT) project focuses on translating advances in terahertz (THz) electronics technology to fill the need for simple, low cost, and reliable room temperature detectors of pulsed terahertz radiation, equivalent to photodiodes. Due to the ability of THz waves to penetrate through barrier materials (clothes, packaging, etc.), and to perform non-contact and non-ionizing testing, THz systems are positioned to compete with more hazardous and less sensitive technologies like X-rays and will allow resolving images that other technologies cannot resolve. The proposed system based on THz detection would enable the development of new nanostructured THz devices with applications in homeland security, biotechnology, and medicine.
The project will result in a low-cost commercial prototype of the terahertz plasma-wave SOC (system on chip) detector. The device will feature a wide spectral range (0.3-3 THz), an improved time resolution by optimizing device packaging and building integrated signal processing elements, which would allow logic operations with multiple terahertz pulses, such as measuring delays between pulses and extracting pulse position modulation information. This will extend the feasibility of such devices to the emerging fields of THz communication and THz logic systems. Traditional detectors of terahertz radiation include pyroelectric detectors and bolometers, which are very slow (typically within Hz or kHz bandwidth). Such systems are acceptable for measuring the average THz power, but unable to resolve short individual pulses. Existing fast Schottky diode based detectors didn't receive wide acceptance in short pulse terahertz applications due to their static sensitivity and low electrical breakdown thresholds. The proposed device addresses these issues in a silicon integrated platform. While the terahertz spectrum has a great potential for applications in imaging, sensing, spectroscopy, and ultra-broadband wireless communications, realizing this potential requires lowering the equipment cost and size and developing highly efficient, fast, and compact sources and detectors. The proposed integrated SOC plasma wave detector system will be uniquely suited for the THz market. The development of such prototype will include: (1) Design and fabrication of integrated amplifier for RF coupling of the detector output with transient digitizer module with an RF bandwidth up to 50 GHz. (2) Design and fabrication of integrated terahertz antenna for the active element and collimating lens for optimization of THz radiation coupling efficiency, and increase of effective terahertz cross section of the detector. (3) Design of integrated data acquisition module.
The project engages industry, foundries, and university venture development organization to augment research capability, provide test environment, and guide the commercialization aspects in this technology translation effort from research discovery toward commercial reality. Furthermore, the students involved in the project, will take an entrepreneurship course, which, in addition to the courses offered by the Lally School of Business at RPI, will have a directed study course offered by the PIs. The students supported by the project will also receive a 3 hours mini course followed by a pass-fail test on IP, and they will be strongly encouraged to participate in business plan competitions at RPI.
