Opto-Electronics Review 31 (2023) e144599

Opto-Electronics Review

journal homepage: https://journals.pan.pl/opelre

Compact terahertz devices based on silicon in CMOS and

BiCMOS technologies
Dmytro B. But 1,2* , Alexander V. Chernyadiev 1 , Kęstutis Ikamas 3,4 , Cezary Kołaciński 1,5 ,
Anastasiya Krysl 6, Hartmut G. Roskos 6 , Wojciech Knap 1 , Alvydas Lisauskas 1,3
1
CENTERA, Institute of High Pressure Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Sokolowska 29/37, 01-142 Warsaw, Poland
2
NOMATEN Centre of Excellence, National Centre of Nuclear Research, A. Soltana 7, 05-400 Otwock-Świerk, Poland
3
Institute of Applied Electrodynamics and Telecommunications, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio Av. 9, LT-10222 Vilnius, Lithuania
4
General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania, Šilo Av. 5A, LT-10322 Vilnius, Lithuania
5
Łukasiewicz Research Network Institute of Microelectronics and Photonics, Al. Lotników 32/46, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland
6
Institute of Physics, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 1, D60435 Frankfurt, Germany

Article info Abstract

Article history: This paper reports on compact CMOS-based electronic sources and detectors developed for
Received 21 Jan. 2023 the terahertz frequency range. It was demonstrated that with the achievable noise-equivalent
Received in revised form 21 Feb. 2023 power levels in a few tens of pW/√Hz and the emitted power in the range of 100 µW, one
Accepted 22 Feb. 2023 can build effective quasi-optical emitter-detector pairs operating in the 200–266 GHz range
Available on-line 18 Apr. 2023 with the input power-related signal-to-noise ratio reaching 70 dB for 1 Hz-equivalent noise
bandwidth. The applicability of these compact devices for a variety of applications including
Keywords:
Terahertz; teraFET; CMOS; THz imaging, spectroscopy or wireless communication links was also demonstrated.
emitter; THz detectors.

1. Introduction solid-state pulse laser-driven time-domain spectroscopy

(TDS) systems [5], laser-driven photomixers [6], slow
There is a continuous growth of interest in signal Golay cell [7], optoacoustic [8] or pyroelectric device [9],
generation and detection at the millimetre-wave and or even cryogenically-cooled bolometers [10].
terahertz (THz) frequency ranges. The electromagnetic The status quo with THz technologies being limited
radiation at these frequencies can penetrate through many mainly to laboratory applications might change rather
materials while having non-ionizing photon energies; soon [11]. It is driven by the development of new
furthermore, many compounds and materials possess component concepts which enable the operation in the THz
characteristic spectral absorption lines, which allow for frequency range for devices fabricated using mainstream
their unique identification [1]. Strong motivation for new semiconductor device fabrication technologies such as the
technological developments also comes from the demand to complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) tech-
increase data transfer speed in wireless communications [2]. nology. This technology high yield and repeatability allow
However, for THz technologies to become applicable in the implementation of power-combining techniques using
large-scale consumer-oriented applications, there is a strong integrated array antennas for increasing output power [12].
demand for compact, cost-effective, high-performing It has already been demonstrated that THz detectors
technology solutions operating at room-temperature implemented in CMOS technologies are already com-
conditions. Most existing THz systems which are used to petitive with the established state-of-the-art detection
provide proof-of-principle for the uniqueness of this approaches [13]. In contrast, the performance of devices for
frequency range are based on large and not scalable discrete generation is steadily improving and approaching the
elements: electronic multipliers which involve high power levels which become competitive to those achiev-
technological effort demanding waveguides [3, 4], bulky able with III/V-material system-based devices [14, 15].
In this manuscript, one of the leading concepts recently
*Corresponding author at: [email protected] employed for detecting (section 2) and generation (section 3)
https://doi.org/10.24425/opelre.2023.144599
1896-3757/ Association of Polish Electrical Engineers (SEP) and Polish Academic of Sciences (PAS). Published by PAS
© 2023 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
 D. B. But et al. /Opto-Electronics Review 31 (2023) e144599 2

of THz radiation in CMOS-based technologies will be impedance, Vg is the gate bias, Vdet is the rectified signal, Lg
addressed. Different CMOS-based emitter–detector pair and Ltl are the parasitic inductance of the gate and drain,
operation modalities (section 4) will be discussed including respectively. For both of them, ensure that the induced
data transmission, spectroscopy, and imaging applications. oscillations are launched from only one side of the gated
transistor channel, where induced high-frequency waves
2. Detectors die out at the channel beginning regardless of the load at
the other end and present equivalent intrinsic rectification
The functional performance of a detector can be efficiency. The gate-driven configuration is a typical
described in many different ways. The ratio between the choice in detectors connected to bowtie or patch antennas.
internal noise amplitude and the detector responsivity The differential source-driven scheme consists of two
defines one. This metric is called noise-equivalent power transistors with their drains and gates connected, respect-
(NEP) [16] and could be used as the figure of merit for the tively. The out-of-phase THz signal is coupled to each of
comparison of different detectors in the same frequency the two sources of the differential pair. Drains are also
range. The efficiency of Schottky diodes [17], RTD [18], coupled, and this port is output for rectified signal. The
or field-effect transistors (FET)-based THz detectors schematic better matches impedances between the antenna
(TeraFET) [19] depend on their nonlinear electric conduc- and detectors and could be used for a wide-band detector
tion properties, which enable them to rectify an AC-current operation.
that is induced by the incoming high frequency radiation. Implementing an efficient antenna in the THz
High scientific interest in the THz frequency range integrated detector is one of the main challenges in the
resulted into invention and demonstration of a plethora of device development process. CMOS Si TeraFET detectors
new materials and methods. For example, efficient commonly use planar antennas as bowtie antennas, slot-
detection has been proven due to thermoelectric effect in dipole antennas, and spiral antennas. These antennas require
graphene [20, 21], ballistic rectification [22], self-switching a substrate lens [see Fig. 1(d)] since most of the power of
diode rectification [23], photoelectric effect in Si [24], an on-chip planar antenna is directed into the silicon sub-
rectification in tunnel field effect transistors using bi-layer strate because of its lower intrinsic impedance compared to
graphene [25], and many others. air. An example of broadband planar antenna response is
Here, the focus was put on the case of TeraFET devices shown in Fig. 2(a) by the green curve compared to the radi-
for which the asymmetric coupling of radiation between the ation from the cw-photomixer THz source, the red curve.
drain and source terminals of the transistor channel leads to Such devices are reported to demonstrate a broadband
the formation of induced voltage proportional to the operation with nearly flat frequency response from
radiation power, i.e., the photovoltaic effect [26]. There are 400 GHz up to 1.5 THz [30] (now, this range is extended
multiple ways to induce the asymmetry between the drain up to 2.7 THz). They can be utilized with low-average-
and source terminals [27], but the architectures of transis- power sources for THz radiation, like photomixers [35] or
tors directly connected to on-chip integrated antennas are photoswitches [36], as well as with high-power molecular
the most effective. optically pumped THz lasers [37]. A recent study [13]
The first findings relevant to the successful application dedicated to the sensitivity issues of nanometric field effect
of CMOS-fabricated FET-based devices for efficient transistors as THz sensors is worth mentioning.
detection of THz radiation were reported in 2009 [28]. This
work demonstrated the implementation of the plasmonic
mixing concept earlier proposed by Dyakonov and
Shur [26, 29] in a standard CMOS foundry technology [28].
Since then, the understanding of device properties and
concomitant performance of CMOS-based detectors were
constantly improved. By now, it is in direct competition
with the performance values previously accessible only for
mature Schottky diode technology [30–32].
(a) (b)
Since the first demonstration of FETs in THz
imaging [27, 33], utilizing FET-based detectors for the
THz frequency range is still evolving. The current success,
as well as further performance improvements, are strongly
related to the general development in the field of high-
frequency integrated circuits and correlate with the maturity
of the technology allowing for optimization of THz
radiation coupling by the monolithic implementation of
antennas, as well as reduction of parasitic capacitances or
serial resistances. The exceptional maturity of silicon tech-
(c) (d)
nologies allows the integration of antennas with resonances
going deep into the THz frequency range [19, 32]. Fig. 1. Common architectures to couple THz radiation into the
The two most common schemes of radiation coupling transistor channel: (a) gate-driven, (b) differentially
schemes forming a number that is already presented in the source-driven. Examples of radiation patterns ( = 0°) of
(c) patch antenna and (d) planar substrate-based antenna,
literature are shown in Fig. 1(a) and 1(b): (a) gate-driven [19] where 1 is the die with integrated structure, 2 is the sample
and (b) differentially source-driven [34], where VTHz is the holder-based with contact pads, 3 is the wire bonding, 4 is
voltage induced by THz radiation, Zant is the antenna the transparent substrate, 5 is the substrate lens.
 D. B. But et al. /Opto-Electronics Review 31 (2023) e144599 3

(a)

(a)

(b)
Fig. 3. (a) The power spectrum of the cw-photomixer THz
(b)
radiation source is denoted by the grey curve, with the blue
Fig. 2. (a) Comparison of voltage response as a function of the vertical lines indicating the water absorption lines. The
frequency for CMOS-based TeraFET with a narrowband colour curves correspond to signals that have been
patch antenna (blue dots) and the substrate-lens coupled measured utilizing a TeraFET detector with patch
(green dots) slot dipole antenna. The red curve is the antennas. (b) Beam areas as a function of the frequency
power of cw-photomixer THz radiation source. that was determined during experiment [see panel (a)].
(b) Comparison of NEP for narrowband patch (blue dots) The insert displays examples of raster scans conducted
and slot dipole (green dots) antennas as a function of using TeraFET with a patch antenna at different
frequency. The red curves correspond to the calculated frequencies (blue dashed lines), with the scale of the scan
value of NEP for respective devices. area provided.

The second common solution are patch antennas with frequencies (compare with data in Fig. 3). Detectors were
on-chip ground planes that radiate towards the top chip-to- placed at the focal point of a 2” diameter parabolic mirror
air interface [see Fig. 1(c)]. The response of this antenna (PM) with a 2” parent focal length (PFL). The inset of
type is presented in Fig. 2(a) by the blue curve. The key Fig. 3(b) gives an idea about the profile view at different
features of the patch antenna are a narrowband bandwidth frequencies with scales of raster scans for each frequency.
and a relatively low directivity compared to a planar The red dotted line represents the analytical dependence of
antenna with a substrate lens (see the schematic view in the beam diameter in the quasi-optic system that was used.
Fig. 1(c) and 1(d). The patch antennas vertical and hori- The efficiency of radiation coupling by integrated patch
zontal beamwidth (−3 dB level) could achieve 60° [38]. antennas can be boosted by a dielectric lens [39]. This lens
Devices based on patch antennas could be used as point is placed on top of a plane antenna. It raises the detector
detectors since the lowest-order resonance mode, TM10, performance by increasing the effective area but could
occurs when the effective length of antenna is equal to half simultaneously shift resonance frequency depending on the
the wavelength. This property of the antenna is beneficial, lens material dielectric properties [40].
as it allows operation below the diffraction limit of quasi- Figure 2(a) compares voltage responses of CMOS-
optical components in a measurement system. Figure 3(a) based TeraFET detectors with different antennas. The noise
presents signals of TeraFET patch detectors for different voltage for both detectors is about 8 nV/√Hz, and the
resonant frequencies. The spectra lines of patch antenna dynamical range at the peak of responsivity is 60 dB for the
devices in Fig. 3(a) are colour-coded based on their central equivalent noise bandwidth of 1 Hz, referring to the power
resonance frequencies, which are as follows: C8: 620 GHz of the THz radiation (120 dB referring to the voltage signal
– violet, A8: 1300 GHz – blue, A7: 1550 GHz – green, A6: at the output). Figure 2(b) compares the measured NEP for
1880 GHz – orange, and A5 – 2600 GHz – red. The blue both detectors with the calculated one. Methods of NEP
vertical lines correspond to water absorption lines in the calculation for TeraFETs with different types of antennas
atmosphere. The inset of Fig. 3(a) shows one of the were described in Ref. 13. Both detectors, broadband and
structures with a scale marker. Figure 3(b) demonstrates narrowband one, have similar values of NEP at the same
the dependence of the Gaussian beam profile area on the frequency, 280 GHz, which means that both approaches are
frequency. The profiles were recorded using detectors with compatible and could be effectively used, corresponding to
patch antennas, which have the resonances at the appropriate application requirements.
 D. B. But et al. /Opto-Electronics Review 31 (2023) e144599 4

3. Sources This topology allows including a comparatively large

load into the drain sub-circuit, which, on the other hand,
Traditionally, silicon CMOS technologies are optimized reduces the requirement to maintain the high-quality factor
for digital applications and, therefore, are not seriously of the resonant circuit. The main disadvantage of the simple
considered for THz frequency applications due to their circuit described in Fig. 4(a) is a requirement for a voltage
limited maximum frequency of oscillation fmax. However, gain to exceed 4 to sustain stable oscillations. However, the
the continuous device scaling and the development latter condition can be eased by at least two measures, one
of bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS) devices have already of which is separating the gate terminal from the ground by
contributed to the paradigm shift and enabled CMOS introducing an additional inductance 𝐿g as presented in
technologies to enter the THz range. Fig. 4(b), and the second – by implementing a differential
topology with two transistors M1 and M2 as presented in
3.1. Colpitts oscillator basics Fig. 4(c).
Figure 4(b) presents the modified high-frequency
The first reported CMOS-based sources emitting in the equivalent circuit of the Colpitts oscillator. Furthermore,
THz frequency range employed the cross-coupled since the highest resonant frequency can be achieved by
transistor pairs [41–43]. In order to optimize the implementing the lowest possible 𝐿𝐶 product, an external
performance of circuits at high frequencies, there were capacitor 𝐶 1 can be fully omitted. Its role is taken by the
several routes of improvements: by including buffer intrinsic capacitance formed between the drain and source
amplifying elements [44], by extending to multiple-push terminals 𝐶DS . At the usual biasing conditions, which can
configurations [45], or by employing a differential Colpitts be assumed as 𝐶GS ≫ 𝐶GD to be valid, a simple analysis
oscillator configuration, which gained popularity over predicts the resonant frequency
time. A typical schematic of the Colpitts oscillator in a
common-source configuration is presented in Fig. 4(a) 1
[46]. The general functionality requires only a single 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑠 = .
amplifying element (it can be either a FET as in the 𝐿𝑑 𝐶2 + 𝐶𝐺𝑆 (𝐿𝑑 + 𝐿𝑔 ) (2)
2𝜋√𝐶𝐷𝑆
example, a bipolar transistor in an amplifier stage), one 𝐶𝐷𝑆 + 𝐶2 + 𝐶𝐺𝑆
inductor 𝐿 and two capacitances 𝐶 1 and 𝐶 2. The oscillation
frequency is defined by the resonant circuit formed by the It is worth noting that the additional inductor 𝐿𝑔
inductor and the capacitance value resulting from the in-
connected to the gate terminal reduces the requirement for
series connection of capacitances 𝐶 1 and 𝐶 2:
the gain, however, it also enables oscillations to take a
−1 different current path [47] and, therefore, requires thorough
𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑠 = (2𝜋√𝐿𝐶1 𝐶2 /(𝐶1 + 𝐶2 )) . (1) consideration. The analysis of the oscillator circuit can be

(a) (b) (c)

(d) (e)
Fig. 4. (a) Schematics of a Colpitts oscillator in common-base configuration. (b) The equivalent small-signal schematics of Colpitts
oscillator. (c) A circuit with two symmetrically combined Colpitts oscillators based on identical transistors 𝑀1 and 𝑀2 can be
analysed as a two-terminal device with negative impedance Z. Finally, (d) the simulated impedance for a MOSFET with 60 nm gate
length and 28 µm width (14 fingers with 2 µm each), and (e) the spectrum of the real part of conductance for different values of 𝐿𝑔 .
 D. B. But et al. /Opto-Electronics Review 31 (2023) e144599 5

greatly simplified using a push-push configuration which 3.3. State-of-the-art for CMOS-based THz oscillators
involves two symmetrically combined modified Colpitts
oscillators based on similar transistors 𝑀1 and 𝑀2 [see Based on the state-of-the-art reports in the field of
Fig. 4(c)]. From the load perspective, this circuit can also analogue high-frequency electronics, one cannot leave it
be considered as a two-terminal device with the negative unnoticed that the performance of the industrial
impedance 𝑍 or conductance 𝑌. For the illustration, in mainstream semiconductor fabrication technology-based
Fig. 4(d) and 4(e), we present the results of simulations devices, i.e., a CMOS and BiCMOS, now almost achieve
when the transistors 𝑀1 and 𝑀2 are MOSFETs with a the values of the benchmark-setting III/V devices.
60 nm gate length and a 28 µm width (14 fingers with 2 µm Although silicon-based devices are inherently slower,
each, with 𝑓max = 162 GHz) with a fixed valued 𝐿𝑔 + 𝐿𝑑 nevertheless, the cut-off frequencies 𝑓𝑇 and the maximum
equal to 150 pH and 𝐿𝑔 varied from 10 pH to 100 pH by a oscillation frequencies 𝑓max for modern FET and, in
step of 5 pH. The simulations demonstrate that when the particular, silicon-germanium (SiGe) heterojunction
gate inductance 𝐿𝑔 becomes large, the real part of bipolar transistors (HBTs) now are reported to exceed a
impedance starts to be negative and its minimal value shifts 300 GHz barrier meaning that the devices can directly enter
to lower frequencies. However, the minimal value of the into the THz frequency range [14, 49]. A significant
real part of conductance remains nearly independent of number of implementations rely on the efficient extraction
frequency which also corresponds to a resulting oscillation of power generated at higher harmonics of a strong core
frequency of 94 GHz. Furthermore, the modelling indicates
that by careful selection of inductance and source
capacitance values, the schematic enables achieving stable
fundamental oscillations up to 140 GHz, i.e., close to
0.8 𝑓max .

3.2. Performance of implemented devices

Simplified schematics for a harmonic push-push

oscillator implemented in a 65 nm CMOS technology are
presented in Fig. 5(a). It uses two 28 µm wide transistors (a) (b)
(14 fingers, each 2 µm wide) with 60 nm long channels.
The drain inductor at 84 GHz fundamental frequency has
about 140 nH inductance, whereas, at the third harmonic,
its complex impedance approaches 69 + 21𝑖. In order to
enhance the radiative properties, the inductor has a bowtie
shape, as presented in the inset of Fig. 5(c). The spectrum
of radiated power at three different drain-to-source bias
voltages is presented in the main panel of Fig. 5(c). The
oscillator demonstrates a 3 dB tuning range from about
252 GHz to 259 GHz. More details about this design and
device characteristics can be found elsewhere [48].
The same concept of the push-push type of oscillator
can also be optimized for the emission of fundamental (c)
harmonics. An oscillator for a 130 nm BiCMOS process for
this task was designed. A similar schematic, but now
involving a pair of bipolar transistors, is presented in
Fig. 5(b). The shape of the drain inductor has been derived
from a bowtie antenna with a shorting element near the
neck of the antenna to provide an inductive character of
impedance near the target frequency of 250 GHz. The
micrograph of the implemented circuit is shown in the inset
of Fig. 5(d). Similarly, as for the previous example, the
dependence of the radiated power into the free space at
different bias conditions measured with a calibrated
detector is presented in Fig. 5(d). When biased with 1.4 V
to the collector terminal and 1 V to the gate terminal, the
circuit delivers up to 325 µW of propagating power and the (d)
3 dB tuning range from 258.5 GHz to 263 GHz. Although
Fig. 5. Schematic representation of Colpitts oscillators: (a) for
the achieved tuning range is narrower than for CMOS 65 nm CMOS technology and (b) for a 130 nm BiCMOS
devices, the advantage of operating at fundamental technology. Dependence of the radiated power on
frequency allows achieving about 3 times larger emitted frequency which is controlled by gate (base) bias voltage
power with the additional improvement by about the factor when the drain-source (collector-emitter) bias voltage is
of two if the absorption in a doped substrate and Fresnel set to 1 V (blue symbols), 1.2 V (green symbols) and
1.4 V (red symbols): (c) 65 nm CMOS VCO and (d)
reflection loss would be minimized.
130 nm BiCMOS technologies.
 D. B. But et al. /Opto-Electronics Review 31 (2023) e144599 6

oscillator operating at frequencies that are typically 4. Source-detector systems

optimized to be slightly below or close to the half of 𝑓max ,
and the concomitant efficient extraction of radiation at one The availability of compact CMOS-based components
or a multitude of higher harmonics. Implementing a triple- [see Fig. 6(b)] enables the implementation of different
push oscillator resulted in an on-wafer measured −7.9 dBm experiments. Figure 7(a) shows the setup for a precise
at 482 GHz frequency [50]. Owing to the high density of determination of the oscillator frequency by employing
integration, a concept with coupled oscillators enabled the heterodyne mixing between the test source and the
generation of −1.2 dBm at 290 GHz and −3.3 dBm at reference generator. The radiation from the emitter (either
320 GHz [51]. MOSFET or HBT-based) is overlapped using a beam-
Even higher output powers are reported for splitter with the tunable source based on the Schottky diode
implementations utilizing BiCMOS devices, resulting in frequency multiplier chain (Virginia Diodes, Inc.). The
1 dBm from a single antenna at 245 GHz [52] or −6.3 dBm spectra of the resulting mixing signal (left axis) are shown
at 430 GHz [53]. In the same technology, the power in Fig. 7(b). The left axis shows the dynamic range of the
combining technique for a 64-element array enabled the mixing signal, where the line appears when both
report of 9.2 dBm radiated power at 420 GHz [54]. A 1 Hz frequencies are close to the same value. The linewidth of
barrier was recently passed using an efficient power- the signal is determined by the modulation bandwidth of
combining approach with 42 oscillators, resulting in a total the detector (currently limited by 4 MHz). The triangle
emitted power of −10.9 dBm at 1.01 THz [55]. symbols represent the measured frequency of oscillations as
For more information about the recent developments in a function of base bias voltage (shown with the right axis).
the field of solid-state sources and detectors, it is advised The setup presented in Fig. 8(a) employs a compact
to read a number of dedicated review articles like these electronic source (either MOSFET or HBT) and a broad-
which focus either on silicon technologies [56] or band spiral-antenna-coupled detector in a Michelson-type
frequency multiplication with Schottky diodes [4], direct interferometer configuration. This approach allows to
generation like with resonant-tunnelling diodes [18, 57] or measure harmonics content of the emitted radiation. For the
present a broad-scale overview [58]. harmonic oscillator sources implemented in 65 nm CMOS
The following section of this article aims to demon- [see the top panel of Fig. 4(c), one can clearly indicate the
strate that the already achieved performance of silicon- suppressed emission at the fundamental frequency of
based devices allows addressing most applications which 88 GHz, the main radiation peak with the highest power at
have been used to prove the applicability of THz the third harmonic, i.e., 256 GHz, as well as emission at the
technologies fully with compact and cost-effective devices second harmonic at 176 GHz (emission at this harmonic
produced by the mainstream silicon fabrication technologies. was expected to be suppressed due to circuit symmetry).

(a)

(b)
Fig. 6. (a) Schematic representation for the oscillator (top) and Fig. 7. (a) The setup for heterodyne mixing involves a VCO
detector (bottom) assemblies. Both assemblies share a emitter (either an MOSFET or an HBT-based emitter), a
similar concept of construction: a hyper-hemispheric tunable THz source based on a Schottky multiplier chain
high resistivity silicon lens with a 12 mm diameter, a and beam splitter. (b) The dynamic range of mixing
500 µm thick undoped silicon substrate wafer which is signal (left axis): the line appears when both frequencies
glued to the printed circuit board with bonding pads and are close in value. Frequency of oscillations (triangles)
protection electronics [see also Fig. 1(d)]. (b) Photo of as a function of base bias voltage (for 130 nm BiCMOS
the packaged oscillator and detector modules. VCO) is shown on the right axis.
 D. B. But et al. /Opto-Electronics Review 31 (2023) e144599 7

(a)
(a)

(b)
Fig.9. (a) Schematic of the setup used for near-field imaging;
(b)
(b) left panel: 2-D topology of the gold-to-silicon
interface measured by AFM; right panel: same area
scanned using the 3rd harmonic of s-SNOM signal at the
interface between gold (corresponding to max. values)
and silicon (corresponding to low values). Marked are
dust particles showing different contrast in AFM and
s-SNOM modes.

scattered by the tip is collected by the same 2-inch mirror,

reflected from the beam-splitter, it is then focused by a
Teflon lens onto the THz detector; reference arm – THz
radiation emitted by the source is collimated by a 4-inch
(c)
parabolic mirror, 50% of radiation power is reflected by the
beam-splitter and then reflected back from a flat mirror, the
part of the radiation that passes through the beam-splitter is
Fig. 8. (a) Schematic of the Fourier transform interferometer with
a Si-based source-detector THz pair. The radiation spectra focused by a Teflon lens onto the THz detector and
obtained using the interferometer for a 65 nm CMOS combined with the weak signal coming from the AFM tip
harmonic oscillator and a 130 nm SiGe HBT fundamental (signal arm). In Fig. 9(b), both the AFM-measured
oscillator are shown in (b) and (c), respectively. topology and the s-SNOM image of the interface between
gold and silicon can be seen. An area of 20 × 20 μm2 with a
There is a clear indication for the emission at the 6th total of 150 ×150 = 22 500 pixels was scanned. Both
harmonic at the frequency of 519 GHz with expected images contain identical dust particles with a different
power levels of the order of a few µW. This spectral line contrast in AFM and s-SNOM modes.
can be utilized as well, provided that lower harmonics are The direct link between the emitter and detector (point-
effectively filtered. The cleanest emission spectrum can be to-point connection, line-of-site, etc.) can be employed for
obtained using an HBT-based fundamental oscillator, as imaging, as well as for wireless data transmission. We
presented in the lower panel of Fig. 8(b). Obtained employ a simple on/off keying scheme in which the
spectrum has only the main radiation peak with higher maximal rate of transmitted signals is mainly limited by the
harmonics being effectively suppressed by the device modulation bandwidth of the integrated low-noise
capacitance and antenna symmetry. amplifier at the detector side and the modulation speed or
The CMOS-based emitter-detector pair was success- the divergence of radiation (so-called path loss) on the
fully utilized at the scattering-type scanning near-field source side.
optical microscopy (s-SNOM) setup [Fig. 9(a)]. The setup Our existing implementation of control electronics has
is built for homodyne measurements as in Ref. 59 but now a 100 MHz modulation rate. However, the limit of the
it contains only compact THz-electronic devices. There are systems modulation bandwidth is set by the input capaci-
two beam paths in the interferometer: signal arm – THz tance of amplifier of about 1 pF, which with the typical
radiation emitted by the source is collimated by a 4-inch detector impedance of 4 kΩ results in 𝑓3dB ~ 40 MHz.
parabolic mirror, 50% of radiation power passes through a The point-to-point configuration shown in Fig. 10(a) is
beam-splitter and is focused by a 2-inch parabolic mirror a common schematic used for a THz transmission between
onto an atomic force microscopy (AFM) tip, THz radiation an emitter and a detector. It is frequently utilized to achieve
 D. B. But et al. /Opto-Electronics Review 31 (2023) e144599 8

(a) (a)

(b)

(b)
Fig. 10. (a) The point-to-point transmission system for raster-
scan imaging at the position of intermediate focus.
(b) Photo of optically opaque plastic bottle (left) with Fig. 11. (a) The point-to-point data transmission line. (b) The
liquid inside. The central panel is a raster-scan THz eye diagrams of the detector output signal at 3 MHz.
image at 250 GHz. The right panel shows the result of
numerical processing indicating the level of the liquid
in the bottle. harmonic oscillator) and 325 µW at 260 GHz (HBT-based
fundamental oscillator) of power into the propagating beam
raster-scan images. As an example of such an application, was presented. The combination of this source and the
the raster scan of an optically opaque plastic bottle was substrate-lens coupled detectors allows implementing
demonstrated. The left panel of Fig. 10(b) shows a photo of optical emitter-detector systems which exhibit input power-
the object. The centre image is the intensity of the related signal-to-noise ratio above 70 dB in the direct
transmitted THz light in the raster scan. The raster scan in detection regime for 1 Hz-equivalent noise bandwidth. The
Fig. 10(b) has a resolution of 0.5 mm with a total of manuscript presents a variety of emitter–detector pairs that
140×260 pixels and a total scan time of approximately 18 can be utilized in different experiments such as spectro-
minutes with a time constant of 10 ms. The scan time could scopy, data transmission, or near-field and raster-scan
be reduced by using a detector line or matrix. The right imaging.
panel shows the result of numerical processing indicating
the level of the liquid in the bottle. Authors’ statement
The point-to-point configuration was also used as a
free-space all-electronic THz communication system, as Research concept and design, D.B, K.I., C.K., and A.L.;
shown in Fig. 11(a). The system demonstrates an SNR ratio collection data, A.C., A.K., K.I., and D.B.; data analysis
of 15.9 dB at a 32 MHz modulation frequency and the and interpretation, D.B., K.I., and A.L.; writing the article,
concomitant channel capacity of 266 MHz [see Fig. 11(b)]. D.B., A.L., and K.I.; critical revision of the article, W.K.
The data transmission speed in the demonstration and H.R.; final approval of article, D.B. and A.L.
experiment is limited by the external electronic
components used – the low-noise-amplifier and the Acknowledgements
modulator. However, according to the Shannon–Hartley
theorem, the theoretical information capacity of the system On the Polish side, the work was supported by the
without bandwidth limitation based on our core CMOS “International Research Agendas” program of the
elements could be at least 100 Gbit/s per channel. Foundation for Polish Science co-financed by the European
Implementing state-of-the-art transmitter circuits should Union under the European Regional Development Fund
allow direct scaling of the throughput to 10 Gbit/s [60]. (No. MAB/2018/9) for CENTERA.
D. B. But acknowledges the funding from the European
5. Conclusions Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program
under the grant agreement No. 857470.
In summary, here the state-of-the-art of CMOS-based The team from Germany acknowledges funding
(MOSFET, as well as HBT) electronic sources and through the DFG-Fraunhofer-Cooperation program
detectors developed for the THz frequency range was (project No. RO 770/43-1”TeraSpect”).
shortly presented. In particular, the antenna-coupled push- The Lithuanian team acknowledges funding received
push type of oscillator that employs Colpitts configuration from the Lithuanian Science Foundation (project No. S-
and emits up to 75 µW at 254 GHz (MOSFET-based MIP-22-83)
 D. B. But et al. /Opto-Electronics Review 31 (2023) e144599 9

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