DOTFIVE project : Towards 0.5 TeraHertz Silicon / Germanium Heterojunction bipolar technology -

DOTFIVE is aiming to establish a leadership position for the European semiconductor industry in the area of SiGe HBTs (Silicon-Germanium Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors) for millimeter wave applications, where semiconductor manufacturers like STMicroelectronics and Infineon Technologies are involved.

The main drawbacks in existing designs, which operate typically at frequencies up to a third of the transit frequency fT, are the necessary high bias currents leading to a power dissipation of several watts per radar chip and a limited achievable noise figure (NF) in each building block. The former disadvantage results in additional cooling effort, which implies costly packaging and mounting procedures. The latter directly influences the overall performance, as the total signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in homodyne systems is directly limited by the NF of the (active) mixer. Thus, technologies with higher fT can directly lead to improved automotive radar systems with higher performance at lower power consumption, which increases road safety and energy budget. With an increased fT completely new and highly integrated microwave sensor systems are feasible.


However, until recently, this spectral region has resisted attempts to broadly harness its potential for everyday applications. This led to the expression THz gap, loosely describing the lack of adequate technologies to effectively bridge this transition region between microwaves and optics, both readily accessible via well developed electronic and laser-based approaches. THz technology is an emerging field which has demonstrated a wide-ranging potential. Extensive research in the last years has identified many attractive application areas and has paved the technological path towards broadly usable THz systems. THz technology is currently in a pivotal phase and will soon be in a position to radically expand our analytic capabilities via its intrinsic benefits. In this context, DOTFIVE is planned to establish the basis for fully integrated cost efficient electronic THz solutions.


Applications for this technolgy range from:
-High Speed communication: wireless and digital
-Space and inter - Satellite communication
-Radar applications in the automobile industry, space industry and industrial industry
-MmWave Thz Imaging and Sensing in the fields of Biotechnology, Earth Sensing, Astromony and Security such as explosive detection.

To know more, please see the following webiste and video:http://www.dotfive.eu/index.php?id=18 and http://www.dotfive.eu/index.php?id=172 for the video