This article presents the development of a focal plane array (FPA) for terahertz imaging applications with a near diffraction-limited resolution achieved through a very tight sampling of the focal plane. The antenna array is integrated with direct detectors in a 22-nm CMOS technology and operates from 200 to 600 GHz. The tight sampling of the focal plane is realized by using a combination of leaky-wave radiation and a dual-polarized connected array configuration that closely resembles a chessboard. By utilizing both the polarizations in the chessboard design, the number of array elements per unit area is effectively doubled. The geometry of the chessboard array was co-optimized together with that of a silicon elliptical lens to achieve both high aperture efficiency and beam overlap. Measurements in the WR2.2 band of a fabricated demonstrator showed that an aperture efficiency of −4.1 dB was realized at 400 GHz. The average gain roll-off between two diagonally adjacent array elements was measured to be −1.5 dB at 400 GHz. Compared to the reference configuration of an idealized, equivalently sampled hexagonal FPA, the improvement in gain at the edge of coverage yields 1.2 dB, which includes 1.9 dB of ohmic losses in the chessboard array. The agreement between measurements and simulations proved to be within 1 dB from 325 to 475 GHz.

In this paper we present a method to alleviate the errors introduced by the bias dependency of the electrostatic discharge or antenna-effect protection diodes when a direct metal-one TRL calibration is employed. The proposed method shows that the two error-boxes produced by the TRL algorithm can be split and combined without introducing mathematical errors as long as the perturbation can be assumed to be a reciprocal network. A mathematical analysis is provided and initially bench marked against a circuit level simulation employing only s-parameter defined error boxes and ideal lumped components and after verified using 3D EM simulations of the test fixtures. The circuit level simulator confirms the mathematical analysis while the 3D EM simulator validates the applicability in a more realistic setting. Finally, the proposed method is used in a real measurement where the test fixture are implemented in a 28nm CMOS technology and characterized at frequencies between 140 GHz to 200 GHz. The measurement using the proposed method clearly shows reduced deviation from known reference when compared to the non-split approach.

A 12-pixel THz Focal Plane Array (FPA), integrated in Global Foundries 22nm CMOS technology, enabling high resolution passive THz imaging, is presented. The array efficiently couples blackbody radiation from 200 GHz to 600 GHz to Schottky Barrier Diodes (SBDs) in a differential topology. An antenna-detector co-design results in an average Noise Equivalent Power (NEP) of 0.9 pW/ sqrt{ text{Hz}}. An extremely small array periodicity is achieved by using two orthogonal polarizations. Such configuration enables passive imaging with a near-diffraction limited resolution while simultaneously maintaining a high optical efficiency of 42%. The array is currently in tape-out and measurements will be presented at the conference.

In this paper we present the measurement procedure to achieve direct on-wafer absolute power calibration in VNA-based mm-wave setups. The proposed approach employs 28 nm CMOS n-channel MOSFET as the power calibration transfer device, providing sufficient responsivity up to 325 GHz. The square law conversion from mm-wave (power) to DC (voltage) through the CMOS device is employed to achieve a direct on-wafer power calibration. The use of the calibration transfer device allows for a (power) calibration procedure of a mm-wave measurement setup with zero extender movements, thus minimizing errors originating from cable movements, and reducing calibration time when compared to the standard, calorimeter based, procedure. The approach is experimentally benchmarked against the instrumentation power meters procedure in the WR5 band (140220 GHz), showing a maximum error propagated through the calibration equations, over the entire band and multiple devices, lower than 1 dB.

The optical performance of a wideband double bowtie slot antenna, implemented in 28nm CMOS technology, is evaluated. The antenna serves as a verification antenna for an uncooled single-pixel radiometer operating from 200 GHz to 600 GHz. The performance is evaluated in terms of radiometric pattern that is derived from the measured radiation patterns and simulated optical efficiency.