SBIR Phase I: DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF SiGe BiCMOS INFRARED IMAGING SYSTEMS

该小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将设计和开发用于红外成像系统的高效硅锗（SiGe）光电探测器，该光电探测器基于SiGe双极互补金属氧化物半导体（BiCMOS）技术。由于InSb和HgCdTe对3 - 5 μ m和8 - 12 μ m的热辐射具有高灵敏度，目前广泛使用的红外成像系统由它们制成。然而，它们与用于电子读出的主流Si CMOS技术不兼容;因此，红外成像系统是分立的，不能缩放，并且除了临界低温温度要求之外还很昂贵。从温暖和热的物体的热辐射包含大量的红外光子从0.9到12微米。SiGe是一种与Si CMOS技术兼容的光学探测材料，可以探测0.9至1.5 μ m的光子，使得基于SiGe BiCMOS技术在芯片上开发各种集成红外成像系统成为可能。任何与Si CMOS工艺兼容的高效高速SiGe光电探测器及其片上SiGe BiCMOS红外成像系统的改进和突破都将对半导体成像领域产生重大影响。这一成功的开发意味着可以为成像行业和美国军方的各种应用设计和开发各种SiGe BiCMOS红外成像系统芯片。最明显的应用包括车辆夜视，诊断或手术期间用于癌症或肿瘤检测的医疗热成像。SiGe光电探测器的拟议工作也将大大有利于新兴的硅基纳米光子学的研究，开发和商业化，用于先进的信号处理和数据通信。此外，该项目还将与加州大学洛杉矶分校的本科生微细加工教育和研究经验计划相结合。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will design and develop high efficiency silicon germanium (SiGe) photodetectors for infrared imaging systems based on a SiGe bipolar-complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (BiCMOS) technology. Current infrared imaging systems are widely made of InSb and HgCdTe due to their high sensitivity to thermal radiation from 3 -5 and 8 -12 um. However, they are incompatible to the mainstream Si CMOS technology for electronic readouts; hence the infrared imaging systems are discrete, incapable of scaling, and expensive besides the critical cryogenic temperature requirement. Thermal radiation from warm and hot objects contains a large quantity of infrared photons from 0.9 to 12 um. SiGe is an optical detecting material compatible to the Si CMOS technology and can detect photons from 0.9 to 1.5 um, making it possible to develop a variety of integrated infrared imaging systems on a chip based on a SiGe BiCMOS technology. Any improvement and breakthroughs in the development of a high-efficiency high-speed SiGe photodetector compatible to the Si CMOS technology and an on-chip SiGe BiCMOS infrared imaging system made of it will have a great impact on the field of semiconductor imaging. The successful development means that various SiGe BiCMOS infrared imaging systems on a chip can be designed and developed for various applications in both imaging industries and US militaries. The most obvious applications include night vision for vehicles, medical thermography for cancer or tumor detection during diagnosis or surgery. The proposed effort on SiGe photodetectors will also greatly benefit the research, development, and commercialization of the emerging silicon-based nanophotonics for advanced signal processing and data communication. Further, the project will also integrate with the UCLA undergraduate microfabrication education and research experiences program.