Considerations for an 8-inch Wafer-Level CMOS Compatible AlN Pyroelectric 5-14 μm Wavelength IR Detector towards Miniature Integrated Photonics Gas Sensors

CMOS compatibility and 8-inch manufacturability have been highly desired in MEMS technology. In this article, we demonstrate a MEMS pyroelectric IR detector using CMOS compatible AlN and 8-inch semiconductor wafer technology. This AlN pyroelectric detector detects IR over wavelength ranging from 5 μ m to 14 μ m. In addition, this detector is designed to have added mechanical stiffness for improved device integrity. The detectors are fabricated with different sensing area dimensions to compare their performance. The best performing detector has an NEP ∼ 8.87× 10-9 W/√ Hz and D∗ ∼ 6.04× 106cm√ Hz/W. These pyroelectric detectors are designed and built with the consideration to enable ease of monolithic integration with other components to form an integrated gas sensor system. This includes enabling detection of illumination from the front side and using an absorber stack that consists of CMOS dielectric layers. Subsequently, they will form a crucial part of the architectures for miniature photonics-based gas sensors. Their performance is a first step towards 8-inch wafer level CMOS-compatible manufacturable photonics gas sensors. [2020-0157].