Integrated CMOS terahertz spectroscopy of biomolecules

本研究的目的是开发一个基于互补金属氧化物半导体（CMOS）的全集成平台，用于生物分子的太赫兹光谱。该方法是开发基于器件叠加和多模现象的宽可调谐高功率太赫兹信号源，基于相干太赫兹次谐波混频器的探测器和基于平面无源传输线的太赫兹谐振器换能器以及相关的用于生物分子分析的微流体。这项研究的知识价值在于开发了新的太赫兹电路设计技术，该技术可以在所使用器件的截止频率之外工作，并克服了太赫兹发电的规模硅技术带来的挑战，包括低击穿电压和高有源和无源器件损耗。此外，将开发硅基电子与生物材料的界面的新概念。拟议研究的更广泛的影响是它能够开辟硅电子的新应用。硅电子是数字和通信革命的核心。太赫兹频率范围提供了新的应用，可以像数字和通信革命一样显著影响生活质量，包括低成本的手持医学成像，用于生物分子识别和疾病诊断的生物光谱学，以及极高数据速率的通信等等。拟议的研究还进一步努力将硅电子与湿生物材料相结合，这将影响硅电子在生命科学中的其他应用。该提案将允许研究人员在跨学科的研究环境中培养研究生和本科生，结合物理学，纳米尺度材料和制造，电路设计和生物学应用。通过系统地在项目中培训高积极性的高中生，并通过与双重发现项目和哥伦比亚大学科学研究项目的互动，加强与当地K-12教育工作者的互动，将为K-12的推广做出重大努力。

The objective of this research is to develop a fully-integrated complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-based platform for terahertz spectroscopy of bio-molecules. The approach is the development of widely-tunable high-power terahertz signal sources based on device stacking and multi-mode phenomena, coherent terahertz sub-harmonic mixer-based detectors and planar passive transmission-line-based terahertz resonator transducers and associated micro-fluidics for bio-molecular analysis.The intellectual merit of this research lies in the development of new design techniques for terahertz circuits that operate beyond the cutoff frequency of the devices used, and overcome the challenges posed by scaled silicon technologies for terahertz power generation, including low breakdown voltage and high active and passive device loss. Additionally, new concepts will be developed for the interfacing of silicon-based electronics with biological material.The broader impact of the proposed research is its ability to open up new applications for silicon electronics. Silicon electronics lies at the heart of the digital and communication revolutions. The terahertz frequency range offers new applications that could significantly impact quality of life much in the way the digital and communication revolutions have, including low-cost hand-held medical imaging, bio-spectroscopy for bio-molecular recognition and disease diagnosis, and extremely-high-data-rate communication to name a few. The proposed research also furthers efforts to interface silicon electronics with wet biological material, which will impact other applications of silicon electronics in the life sciences. This proposal will allow the investigators to train graduate and undergraduate students in a cross-disciplinary research environment combining physics, nano-scale materials and fabrication, circuit design, and biology applications. Significant effort will be made for K-12 outreach by systematically training highly motivated high school students within the program and also enhancing the interaction with the local K-12 educators through interaction with the Double Discovery Program and the Columbia University Science Research Program.