Detectors

Phiar's integrated bowtie detector incorporates a diode at the intersection of the antenna's lobes. An MIIM diode coupled to an antenna is a uniquely capable detector. The basic concept is shown in Figure 1, where the two arms of a bowtie antenna cross to form a metal-insulator diode. The rectified signal is measured at the load.

A working device is shown in the electron microscope image along side a 3D schematic of the detector (Figure 2).

A mircograph of a Phiar bowtie antenna detector. The diode used to rectify the signal is situated at the intersection of the antenna lobes.

The resulting device exhibits good responsivity. The responsivity is a measure of the current (or alternatively voltage) out per unit electromagnetic power.

**Table 1**: As seen here, Phiar’s projections for its MIIM diodes compare favorably with other high performance devices.
	Phiar MIIM Diode	GaAs Schottky Diode	III-Sb Backward Tunnel Diode	Microbolometer
Bias	Zero	Positive	Zero	Positive
Responsivity	8-10 A/W	8 A/W	1-2 A/W	1-10 A/W
NEP	~1x10^-12 W/Hz^1/2	1x10^-11 W/Hz^1/2	N/A	>1x10^-12 W/Hz^1/2
Bandwidth	~10 THz	3 THz	720 GHz	< 1 MHz

MIIM detectors show promise in providing detectors that perform as well as or better than any other detector, with the advantages of lower cost and much greater ease of integration into systems.