CEA-Leti, Minatec Campus, Université Grenoble Alpes, 17, Rue des Martyrs, Grenoble, France, I2S, Pessac, France

As for other imaging sensor markets, whatever is the technology, the commercial spread of terahertz (THz) cameras has to fulfil simultaneously the criteria of high sensitivity and low cost and SWAP (size, weight and power). Monolithic silicon-based 2D sensors integrated in uncooled THz real-time cameras are good candidates to meet these requirements. Over the past decade, LETI has been studying and developing such arrays with two complimentary technological approaches, i.e. antenna-coupled silicon bolometers and CMOS Field Effect Transistors (FET), both being compatible to standard silicon microelectronics processes. LETI has leveraged its know-how in thermal infrared bolometer sensors in developing a proprietary architecture for THz sensing. High technological maturity has been achieved as illustrated by the demonstration of fast scanning of large field of view and the recent birth of a commercial camera. In the FET-based THz field, recent works have been focused on innovative CMOS read-out-integrated circuit designs. The studied architectures take advantage of the large pixel pitch to enhance the flexibility and the sensitivity: an embedded in-pixel configurable signal processing chain dramatically reduces the noise. Video sequences at 100 frames per second using our 31x31 pixels 2D Focal Plane Arrays (FPA) have been achieved. The authors describe the present status of these developments and perspectives of performance evolutions are discussed. Several experimental imaging tests are also presented in order to illustrate the capabilities of these arrays to address industrial applications such as non-destructive testing (NDT), security or quality control of food. © 2017 SPIE.

antenna-coupled bolometer terahertz array, antenna-coupled Field Effect Transistor terahertz array, terahertz real-time imaging, terahertz uncooled 2D camera

Antennas, Bolometers, Cameras, CMOS integrated circuits, Focal plane arrays, Infrared detectors, Microelectronics, Nanotechnology, Nondestructive examination, Pixels, Signal processing, Silicon, Technology transfer, CMOS field-effect transistors, Non destructive testing, Performance evolutions, Readout integrated circuits, Realtime imaging, Silicon microelectronics, Tera Hertz, Uncooled, Field effect transistors