Nanometallic antenna-assisted amorphous silicon waveguide integrated bolometer for mid-infrared

Area of Science:

• Optoelectronics
• Infrared Sensing
• Materials Science

Background:

• Bolometers are crucial thermal detectors for mid-infrared (MIR) applications.
• Integrated sensing systems require broadband, scalable bolometers for the entire MIR range.
• Existing silicon-on-insulator (SOI) bolometers have limitations in performance and scalability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a waveguide-based bolometer on an amorphous silicon (a-Si) platform for MIR detection.
• To enhance responsivity and performance for integrated sensing systems.
• To explore the potential for broadband absorption across the MIR spectrum.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a waveguide-based bolometer on an amorphous silicon (a-Si) platform.
• Characterization of the bolometer's performance in the 3.72-3.88 µm wavelength range.
• Analysis of responsivity, resistance change, and thermal conductance.

Main Results:

• Achieved a 20x improvement in responsivity compared to previous SOI bolometers.
• Demonstrated a 24.62% change in resistance per milliwatt of input power at 3.8 µm.
• Measured a thermal conductance of 3.86×10^-5 W/K.

Conclusions:

• The developed a-Si waveguide bolometer offers significantly enhanced performance for MIR integrated sensing.
• The design shows potential for further improvements, with possibilities for a 3-order magnitude increase in performance.
• This work paves the way for scalable, broadband MIR detectors on chip.