Nanometric CMOS-SOI-NEMS transistor for uncooled THz sensing

This paper reports the design (electrical, mechanical, and thermal), fabrication technology by post-complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) nanomachining, and characterization of CMOS-silicon on insulator (SOI)-nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) transistors fabricated in 180-nm technology. The thermally isolated, nanomachined CMOS-SOI-NEMS transistor reported here is designed for monolithic uncooled passive terahertz sensing and is dubbed "TeraMOS," while the fabrication technology is dubbed "CMOST." With responsivity of ∼0.5 A/W, noise equivalent power (NEP) of the order of NEP/ √ Hz|_1Hz = 7.8 pW/ √ Hz, D* of 0.34 • 10¹⁰ cm √ Hz/Watt, and evaluated noise equivalent temperature difference of ∼1.25 K, this uncooled THz sensor in standard CMOS-SOI technology may enable monolithic uncooled passive THz imagers.