One-step air bridge fabrication technique using 3D e-beam lithography

A new technique is demonstrated for the realisation of air bridges using one lithographic step. Gray scale lithography is used for the formation of 3D profiles on polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) where a variable dose exposure is applied to create a trapezoid profile for the air bridge. In previous 3D electron beam lithography (EBL) methods the span area was exposed to a low dose or a low acceleration voltage [1,2,3]. Thus, the required discontinuity with the surrounding area for the lift-off process was created. In this technique, no exposure of the span area is needed. Another exposure of a gradient dose is applied to the sides of the highest part of the air bridge. The created profile, after developing the resist, is depicted in Figure 1. The surfaces with red and blue colour represent the metal to form the air bridge and the metal to lift-off, respectively. Using this configuration, the deposited metal at the sides of the top part of the air bridge is connected to the surrounding metal to lift-off and disconnect from the air bridge. The electron dose used in this area has to be smaller than the minimum dose that penetrates the total resist layer, so that the deposited metal does not reach the substrate. This method takes maximum advantage of the resist thickness for the fabrication of high structures, as no part of the resist is sacrifice

Broadband Bow-Tie Slot Antenna with Tuning Stub for Resonant Tunnelling Diode Oscillators with Novel Configuration for Substrate Effects Suppression

Radiation from antennas integrated with InP-based resonant tunnelling diode (RTD) oscillators is usually degraded because of the effects of the large dielectric constant substrate. The common solution has been to use hemispherical lenses to extract the signal from the backside of the substrate. In this paper we present a broadband bow-tie slot antenna with tuning stub which is diced and mounted on a ground plane to alleviate the substrate effects. Here, the large dielectric constant substrate around the antenna conductor is removed. In addition, the ground plane underneath the diced substrate acts as a reflector and, ultimately, the antenna radiates to air-side direction. The antenna was designed and fabricated using photolithography techniques to offer wide bandwidth (return loss S11 <-10dB) between 200-350 GHz on semi-insulating InP substrate with dielectric constant of ϵr = 12.56. Simulated and measured bandwidth almost extends the frequency range 230-325 GHz. Simulations shows air-side radiation pattern, an antenna gain of around 11 dB at 290 GHz and 98% radiation efficiency

Diced and grounded broadband bow-tie antenna with tuning stub for resonant tunnelling diode terahertz oscillators

Radiation from antennas integrated with indium phosphide (InP)-based resonant tunnelling diode (RTD) oscillators is mainly through the substrate because of the effects of the large dielectric constant. Therefore, hemispherical lenses are used to extract the signal from the backside of the substrate. In this study the authors present a broadband bow-tie slot antenna with a tuning stub which is diced and mounted on a ground plane to alleviate the substrate effects. Here, the large dielectric constant substrate around the antenna conductor is removed. In addition, the ground plane underneath the diced substrate acts as a reflector and, ultimately, the antenna radiates to the air-side direction. Antenna integration with RTD oscillators is described in this study as well. Two-port bow-tie slot antennas were designed and characterised and showed the suitability of integration with power combining RTD oscillator circuits which are based on mutual coupling. The antennas were fabricated using electron beam lithography on a semi-insulating InP substrate. Simulated and measured bandwidth almost extends the entire frequency range 230–325  GHz. Simulations shows air-side radiation pattern and antenna gain of around 11  dB at 280  GHz. Simulations also show that the antenna may be fed with a 50-Ω or 30-Ω feed line, i.e. suitable feed lines, without compromising its performance which may prove beneficial for optimum loading of RTD oscillators

Novel Tunnel Diode Oscillator Power Combining Circuit Topology Based on Synchronisation

Devices with negative differential resistance (NDR) regions in their current-voltage (I-V) characteristics such as tunnel diodes (TD) and resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs) have been used for realizing high frequency oscillators. In this paper, a new power combining technique is presented which combines output power through synchronisation of two coupled tunnel diode oscillators. The measured output power of the two synchronised tunnel diode oscillators realized in microstrip hybrid technology was -6.72 dBm at 716.2 MHz, while that of single tunnel diode oscillator was -9.09 dBm at 575.7 MHz. The circuit topology proposed in this paper can be utilized to realize high power and high frequency RTD terahertz sources

Series coupled resonant tunneling diode oscillators for terahertz applications

A series of resonant tunneling diode oscillators with frequencies up to W-band and output power around one milliwatt are presented. To our knowledge, the 75.2 GHz RTD oscillator with -0.2 dBm output power is the highest power reported. The technique demonstrated here shows the great potential to scale up the design to terahertz frequencies. Jue Wang, Khalid Alharbi, Afesomeh Ofiare, Ata Khalid, Liquan Wang, David Cumming and Edward Wasig

Integration techniques of pHEMTs and planar Gunn diodes on GaAs substrates

This work presents two different approaches for the implementation of pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistors (pHEMTs) and planar Gunn diodes on the same gallium arsenide substrate. In the first approach, a combined wafer is used where a buffer layer separates the active layers of the two devices. A second approach was also examined using a single wafer where the AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs heterostructures were designed for the realisation of pHEMTs. The comparison between the two techniques showed that the devices fabricated on the single pHEMT wafer presented superior performance over the combined wafer technique. The DC and small-signal characteristics of the pHEMTs on the single wafer were enhanced after the use of T-gates with 70 nm length. The maximum transconductance of the transistors was equal to 780 mS/mm with 200 GHz maximum frequency of oscillation (fmax). Planar Gunn diodes fabricated in the pHEMT wafer, with 1.3 μm anode-to-cathode separation (LAC) presented oscillations at 87.6 GHz with maximum power of oscillation equal to -40 dBm

Co-fabrication of planar Gunn diode and HEMT on InP substrate

We present the co-fabrication of planar Gunn diodes and high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) on an Indium Phosphide (InP) substrate for the first time. Electron beam lithography (EBL) has been used extensively for the complete fabrication procedure and a 70 nm T-gate technology was incorporated for the enhancement of the small-signal characteristics of the HEMT. Diodes with anode-to-cathode separation (Lac) down to 1 μm and 120 μm width where shown to oscillate up to 204 GHz. The transistor presents a cut-off frequency (fT) of 220 GHz, with power gain up to 330 GHz (f<sub>max</sub>). The integration of the two devices creates the potential for the realisation of high-power, high-frequency MMIC Gunn oscillators, circuits and systems

A new monolithic approach for mid-IR focal plane arrays

Antimonide-based photodetectors have recently been grown on a GaAs substrate by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and reported to have comparable performance to the devices grown on more expensive InSb and GaSb substrates. We demonstrated that GaAs, in addition to providing a cost saving substrate for antimonide-based semiconductor growth, can be used as a functional material to fabricate transistors and realize addressing circuits for the heterogeneously grown photodetectors. Based on co-integration of a GaAs MESFET with an InSb photodiode, we recently reported the first demonstration of a switchable and mid-IR sensible photo-pixel on a GaAs substrate that is suitable for large-scale integration into a focal plane array. In this work we report on the fabrication steps that we had to develop to deliver the integrated photo-pixel. Various highly controllable etch processes, both wet and dry etch based, were established for distinct material layers. Moreover, in order to avoid thermally-induced damage to the InSb detectors, a low temperature annealed Ohmic contact was used, and the processing temperature never exceeded 180 °C. Furthermore, since there is a considerable etch step (> 6 μm) that metal must straddle in order to interconnect the fabricated devices, we developed an intermediate step using polyimide to provide a smoothing section between the lower MESFET and upper photodiode regions of the device. This heterogeneous technology creates great potential to realize a new type of monolithic focal plane array of addressable pixels for imaging in the medium wavelength infrared range without the need for flip-chip bonding to a CMOS readout chip

Monolithically integrated InAsSb-based nBnBn heterostructure on GaAs for infrared detection

High operating temperature i nfrared photo detectors with multi -color function that are capable of monolithic integration are of increasing importance in developing the next generation of mid -IR imag e sensors. Applications of these sensors include defense, medical diagnosis, environmental and astronomical observations. We have investigated a novel InAsSb -based nBnBn heterostructure that combines a state -of-art InAsSb nBn detector with an InAsSb/GaSb heterojuncti on detector . At room temperature, r educti on in the dark current density of more than an order of magnitude was achieved compared to previously investigated InAsSb/GaSb heterojunction dete ctors . Electrical characterization from cryogenic temperatures to roo m temperature confirmed that the nBnBn device was diffusion limited for temperature s above 150K. O ptical measurements demonstrated that the nBnBn detector was sensitive in both the SWIR and MWIR wavelength range at room temperature . The specific detectivity (D*) of the competed nBnBn devices was calculated to be 8.6 × 10 8 cm · Hz 1/2 W -1 at 300K and approximately 1.0 × 10 10 cm · Hz 1/2 W -1 when cooled down to 200K (with 0.3V reverse bias and 1550nm illumination ). In addition, all photodetector layers were grown monolithically on GaAs active layers u sing the interfacial misfit array growth mode . Our results therefore pave the way for the development of new active pixel designs for monolithically integrated mid -IR imaging arrays

Resonant tunneling and planar Gunn diodes: a comparison of two solid state sources for terahertz technology

The demand for higher frequency applications is growing and a solid-state source for THz frequencies is needed. We compare experimentally demonstarted results of resonant tunneling diode and planar Gunn diodes for terahertz technology. The highest power demonstrated for W-band RTD oscillators at 75.2 GHz with -0.2 dBm (0.96 mW) and at 300GHz for submicron planar Gunn with -16dBm (28μW) are compared as the potential solid-state source for Terahertz applications