PFI:AIR - TT: Low Cost Integrated Plasma Wave THz Detector for Ultra-Fast Pulses of THz Radiation.

该PFI：加速创新研究（AIR）技术转化（TT）项目的重点是转化太赫兹（THz）电子技术的进步，以满足对简单，低成本和可靠的脉冲太赫兹辐射室温探测器的需求，相当于光电二极管。由于太赫兹波能够穿透屏障材料（衣服、包装等），为了执行非接触和非电离测试，THz系统被定位为与X射线等更危险和更不敏感的技术竞争，并将允许解析其他技术无法解析的图像。基于太赫兹探测的系统将使新型纳米结构太赫兹器件的开发成为可能，并将应用于国土安全、生物技术和医学领域。该项目将产生一个低成本的太赫兹等离子体波SOC（片上系统）探测器商业原型。该器件将具有宽光谱范围（0.3-3 THz），通过优化器件封装和构建集成信号处理元件来提高时间分辨率，这将允许使用多个太赫兹脉冲进行逻辑操作，例如测量脉冲之间的延迟和提取脉冲位置调制信息。这将扩大这种设备的可行性，以太赫兹通信和太赫兹逻辑系统的新兴领域。传统的太赫兹辐射探测器包括热电探测器和测辐射热计，它们非常慢（通常在Hz或kHz带宽内）。这样的系统对于测量平均THz功率是可接受的，但不能分辨短的单个脉冲。现有的基于快速肖特基二极管的探测器由于其静态灵敏度和低电击穿阈值而在短脉冲太赫兹应用中没有得到广泛接受。所提出的设备解决了这些问题，在硅集成平台。虽然太赫兹光谱在成像、传感、光谱学和超宽带无线通信方面具有巨大的应用潜力，但实现这一潜力需要降低设备成本和尺寸，并开发高效、快速和紧凑的源和探测器。 提出的集成SOC等离子体波探测器系统将是唯一适合太赫兹市场。该样机的研制包括：（1）设计和制作用于探测器输出与瞬态数字化模块射频耦合的集成放大器，其射频带宽可达50 GHz。(2)设计并制作了集成太赫兹天线的有源元件和准直透镜，优化了太赫兹辐射耦合效率，增加了探测器的有效太赫兹截面。(3)综合数据采集模块的设计。 该项目涉及工业，铸造厂和大学风险开发组织，以增强研究能力，提供测试环境，并指导从研究发现到商业现实的技术转化工作的商业化方面。此外，参与该项目的学生将参加创业课程，除了RPI的Lally商学院提供的课程外，还将有PI提供的指导学习课程。该项目支持的学生还将接受3小时的迷你课程，然后进行IP的通过-失败测试，并强烈鼓励他们参加RPI的商业计划竞赛。

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.