A fully-integrated terahertz near-field sensor for super-resolution imaging in SiGe BiCMOS

We demonstrate a 0.55 THz near-field sensor implemented in 0.13 μm SiGe HBT technology from IHP Microelectronics. The sensor utilizes a differential split-ring resonator for evanescent field sensing and on-chip illumination and detection circuitry to enable future large scale sensor array implementations. It provides a dielectric permitivity dependent image contrast and a lateral resolution of 8 μm (λ/71). The presented work indicates that super-resolution imaging based on THz near-field sensors that are fully integrated in silicon technology may represent an alternative to the presently available systems based on scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM).