Pixelated non-volatile programmable photonic integrated circuits with 20-level intermediate states

Multi-level programmable photonic integrated circuits(PICs)and optical metasurfaces have gained widespread attention in many fields,such as neuromorphic photonics,opticalcommunications,and quantum information.In this paper,we propose pixelated programmable Si_(3)N_(4)PICs with record-high 20-level intermediate states at 785 nm wavelength.Such flexibility in phase or amplitude modulation is achieved by a programmable Sb_(2)S_(3)matrix,the footprint of whose elements can be as small as 1.2μm,limited only by the optical diffraction limit of anin-house developed pulsed laser writing system.We believe our work lays the foundation for laser-writing ultra-high-level(20 levels and even more)programmable photonic systems and metasurfaces based on phase change materials,which could catalyze diverse applications such as programmable neuromorphic photonics,biosensing,optical computing,photonic quantum computing,and reconfigurable metasurfaces.

Carbon nanotube integrated circuit technology:purification,assembly and integration

As the manufacturing process of silicon-based integrated circuits(ICs)approaches its physical limit,the quantum effect of silicon-based field-effect transistors(FETs)has become increasingly evident.And the burgeoning carbon-based semiconductor technology has become one of the most disruptive technologies in the post-Moore era.As one-dimensional nanomaterials,carbon nanotubes(CNTs)are far superior to silicon at the same technology nodes of FETs because of their excellent electrical transport and scaling properties,rendering them the most competitive material in the next-generation ICs technology.However,certain challenges impede the industrialization of CNTs,particularly in terms of material preparation,which significantly hinders the development of CNT-based ICs.Focusing on CNT-based ICs technology,this review summarizes its main technical status,development trends,existing challenges,and future development directions.

Emerging MoS_(2)Wafer-Scale Technique for Integrated Circuits

As an outstanding representative of layered materials,molybdenum disulfide(MoS_(2))has excellent physical properties,such as high carrier mobility,stability,and abundance on earth.Moreover,its reasonable band gap and microelectronic compatible fabrication characteristics makes it the most promising candidate in future advanced integrated circuits such as logical electronics,flexible electronics,and focal-plane photodetector.However,to realize the all-aspects application of MoS_(2),the research on obtaining high-quality and large-area films need to be continuously explored to promote its industrialization.Although the MoS_(2)grain size has already improved from several micrometers to sub-millimeters,the high-quality growth of wafer-scale MoS_(2)is still of great challenge.Herein,this review mainly focuses on the evolution of MoS_(2)by including chemical vapor deposition,metal–organic chemical vapor deposition,physical vapor deposition,and thermal conversion technology methods.The state-of-the-art research on the growth and optimization mechanism,including nucleation,orientation,grain,and defect engineering,is systematically summarized.Then,this review summarizes the wafer-scale application of MoS_(2)in a transistor,inverter,electronics,and photodetectors.Finally,the current challenges and future perspectives are outlined for the wafer-scale growth and application of MoS_(2).

The Roadmap of 2D Materials and Devices Toward Chips

Due to the constraints imposed by physical effects and performance degra certain limitations in sustaining the advancement of Moore’s law.Two-dimensional(2D)materials have emerged as highly promising candidates for the post-Moore era,offering significant potential in domains such as integrated circuits and next-generation computing.Here,in this review,the progress of 2D semiconductors in process engineering and various electronic applications are summarized.A careful introduction of material synthesis,transistor engineering focused on device configuration,dielectric engineering,contact engineering,and material integration are given first.Then 2D transistors for certain electronic applications including digital and analog circuits,heterogeneous integration chips,and sensing circuits are discussed.Moreover,several promising applications(artificial intelligence chips and quantum chips)based on specific mechanism devices are introduced.Finally,the challenges for 2D materials encountered in achieving circuit-level or system-level applications are analyzed,and potential development pathways or roadmaps are further speculated and outlooked.

Study on Si-SiGe Three-Dimensional CMOS Integrated Circuits

Based on the physical characteristics of SiGe material,a new three-dimensional （3D） CMOS IC structure is proposed,in which the first device layer is made of Si material for nMOS devices and the second device layer is made of Six Ge1- x material for pMOS. The intrinsic performance of ICs with the new structure is then limited by Si nMOS.The electrical characteristics of a Si-SiGe 3D CMOS device and inverter are all simulated and analyzed by MEDICI. The simulation results indicate that the Si-SiGe 3D CMOS ICs are faster than the Si-Si 3D CMOS ICs. The delay time of the 3D Si-SiGe CMOS inverter is 2-3ps,which is shorter than that of the 3D Si-Si CMOS inverter.

A Thermal-Conscious Integrated Circuit Power Model and Its Impact on Dynamic Voltage Scaling Techniques

We propose a novel thermal-conscious power model for integrated circuits that can accurately predict power and temperature under voltage scaling. Experimental results show that the leakage power consumption is underestimated by 52 % if thermal effects are omitted. Furthermore, an inconsistency arises when energy and temperature are simultaneously optimized by dynamic voltage scaling. Temperature is a limiting factor for future integrated circuits,and the thermal optimization approach can attain a temperature reduction of up to 12℃ with less than 1.8% energy penalty compared with the energy optimization one.

Integrated circuit for single channel neural signal regeneration

Based on the 4-channel neural signal regeneration system which is realized by using discrete devices and successfully used for in-vivo experiments on rats and rabbits, a single channel neural signal regeneration integrated circuit （IC）is designed and realized in CSMC ＇ s 0. 6 μm CMOS （ complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor ） technology. The IC consists of a neural signal detection circuit with an adjustable gain, a buffer, and a function electrical stimulation （FES） circuit. The neural signal regenerating IC occupies a die area of 1.42 mm × 1.34 mm. Under a dual supply voltage of ±2. 5 V, the DC power consumption is less than 10 mW. The on-wafer measurement results are as follows： the output resistor is 118 ml）, the 3 dB bandwidth is greater than 30 kHz, and the gain can be variable from 50 to 90 dB. The circuit is used for in-vivo experiments on the rat＇ s sciatic nerve as well as on the spinal cord with the cuff type electrode array and the twin-needle electrode. The neural signal is successfully regenerated both on a rat＇ s sciatic nerve bundle and on the spinal cord.

OML:an online multi-particle locating method for high-resolution single-event effects studies

Identifying sensitive areas in integrated circuits susceptible to single-event effects(SEE)is crucial for improving radiation hardness.This study presents an online multi-track location(OML)framework to enhance the high-resolution online trajectory detection for the Hi’Beam-SEE system,which aims to localize SEE-sensitive positions on the IC at the micrometer scale and in real time.We employed a reparameterization method to accelerate the inference speed,merging the branches of the backbone of the location in the deployment scenario.Additionally,we designed an irregular convolution kernel,an attention mechanism,and a fused loss function to improve the positioning accuracy.OML demonstrates exceptional realtime processing capabilities,achieving a positioning accuracy of 1.83μm in processing data generated by the Hi’Beam-SEE system at 163 frames per second per GPU.

Design and implementation of GM- APD array readout circuit for infrared imaging

Based on an avalanche photodiode（ APD） detecting array working in Geiger mode（ GM-APD）, a high-performance infrared sensor readout integrated circuit（ ROIC） used for infrared 3D（ three-dimensional） imaging is proposed. The system mainly consists of three functional modules, including active quenching circuit（ AQC）, time-to-digital converter（ TDC） circuit and other timing controller circuit. Each AQC and TDC circuit together constitutes the pixel circuit. Under the cooperation with other modules, the current signal generated by the GM-APD sensor is detected by the AQC, and the photon time-of-flight（ TOF） is measured and converted to a digital signal output to achieve a better noise suppression and a higher detection sensitivity by the TDC. The ROIC circuit is fabricated by the CSMC 0. 5 μm standard CMOS technology. The array size is 8 × 8, and the center distance of two adjacent cells is 100μm. The measurement results of the chip showthat the performance of the circuit is good, and the chip can achieve 1 ns time resolution with a 250 MHz reference clock, and the circuit can be used in the array structure of the infrared detection system or focal plane array（ FPA）.

A High Efficiency Hardware Implementation of S-Boxes Based on Composite Field for Advanced Encryption Standard

The SubBytes (S-box) transformation is the most crucial operation in the AES algorithm, significantly impacting the implementation performance of AES chips. To design a high-performance S-box, a segmented optimization implementation of the S-box is proposed based on the composite field inverse operation in this paper. This proposed S-box implementation is modeled using Verilog language and synthesized using Design Complier software under the premise of ensuring the correctness of the simulation result. The synthesis results show that, compared to several current S-box implementation schemes, the proposed implementation of the S-box significantly reduces the area overhead and critical path delay, then gets higher hardware efficiency. This provides strong support for realizing efficient and compact S-box ASIC designs.

Bias Current Compensation Method with 41.4% Standard Deviation Reduction to MOSFET Transconductance in CMOS Circuits

A simple and successful method for the stability enhancement of integrated circuits is presented. When the process parameters, temperature, and supply voltage are changed, according to the simulation results, this method yields a standard deviation of the transconductance of MOSFETs that is 41.4% less than in the uncompensated case. This method can be used in CMOS LC oscillator design.

High performance integrated photonic circuit based on inverse design method

The basic indexes of all-optical integrated photonic circuits include high-density integration,ultrafast response and ultralow energy consumption.Traditional methods mainly adopt conventional micro/nano-structures.The overall size of the circuit is large,usually reaches hundreds of microns.Besides,it is difficult to balance the ultrafast response and ultra-low energy consumption problem,and the crosstalk between two traditional devices is difficult to overcome.Here,we propose and experimentally demonstrate an approach based on inverse design method to realize a high-density,ultrafast and ultra-low energy consumption integrated photonic circuit with two all-optical switches controlling the input states of an all-optical XOR logic gate.The feature size of the whole circuit is only 2.5μm×7μm,and that of a single device is 2μm×2μm.The distance between two adjacent devices is as small as 1.5μm,within wavelength magnitude scale.Theoretical response time of the circuit is 150 fs,and the threshold energy is within 10 fJ/bit.We have also considered the crosstalk problem.The circuit also realizes a function of identifying two-digit logic signal results.Our work provides a new idea for the design of ultrafast,ultra-low energy consumption all-optical devices and the implementation of high-density photonic integrated circuits.

High density Al2O3/TaN-based metal-insulatormetal capacitors in application to radio equency integrated circuits

Metal-insulator-metal （MIM） capacitors with atomic-layer-deposited Al2O3 dielectric and reactively sputtered TaN electrodes in application to radio frequency integrated circuits have been characterized electrically. The capacitors exhibit a high density of about 6.05 fF/μm^2, a small leakage current of 4.8 × 10^-8 A/cm^2 at 3 V, a high breakdown electric field of 8.61 MV/cm as well as acceptable voltage coefficients of capacitance （VCCs） of 795 ppm/V2 and 268ppm/V at 1 MHz. The observed properties should be attributed to high-quality Al2O3 film and chemically stable TaN electrodes. Further, a logarithmically linear relationship between quadratic VCC and frequency is observed due to the change of relaxation time with carrier mobility in the dielectric. The conduction mechanism in the high field ranges is dominated by the Poole-Frenkel emission, and the leakage current in the low field ranges is likely to be associated with trap-assisted tunnelling. Meanwhile, the Al2O3 dielectric presents charge trapping under low voltage stresses, and defect generation under high voltage stresses, and it has a hard-breakdown performance.

Hybrid material integration in silicon photonic integrated circuits

Hybrid integration ofⅢ-Ⅴand ferroelectric materials is being broadly adopted to enhance functionalities in silicon photonic integrated circuits(PICs).Bonding and transfer printing have been the popular approaches for integration of III–V gain media with silicon PICs.Similar approaches are also being considered for ferroelectrics to enable larger RF modulation bandwidths,higher linearity,lower optical loss integrated optical modulators on chip.In this paper,we review existing integration strategies ofⅢ-Ⅴmaterials and present a route towards hybrid integration of bothⅢ-Ⅴand ferroelectrics on the same chip.We show that adiabatic transformation of the optical mode between hybrid ferroelectric and silicon sections enables efficient transfer of optical modal energies for maximum overlap of the optical mode with the ferroelectric media,similar to approaches adopted to maximize optical overlap with the gain section,thereby reducing lasing thresholds for hybridⅢ-Ⅴintegration with silicon PICs.Preliminary designs are presented to enable a foundry compatible hybrid integration route of diverse functionalities on silicon PICs.

Through-silicon-via crosstalk model and optimization design for three-dimensional integrated circuits

Through-silicon-via （TSV） to TSV crosstalk noise is one of the key factors affecting the signal integrity of three- dimensional integrated circuits （3D ICs）. Based on the frequency dependent equivalent electrical parameters for the TSV channel, an analytical crosstalk noise model is established to capture the TSV induced crosstalk noise. The impact of various design parameters including insulation dielectric, via pitch, via height, silicon conductivity, and terminal impedance on the crosstalk noise is analyzed with the proposed model. Two approaches are proposed to alleviate the TSV noise, namely, driver sizing and via shielding, and the SPICE results show 241 rnV and 379 mV reductions in the peak noise voltage, respectively.

Science Letters:The Moore’s Law for photonic integrated circuits

We formulate a “Moore’s law” for photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and their spatial integration density using two methods. One is decomposing the integrated photonics devices of diverse types into equivalent basic elements, which makes a comparison with the generic elements of electronic integrated circuits more meaningful. The other is making a complex compo- nent equivalent to a series of basic elements of the same functionality, which is used to calculate the integration density for func- tional components realized with different structures. The results serve as a benchmark of the evolution of PICs and we can con- clude that the density of integration measured in this way roughly increases by a factor of 2 per year. The prospects for a continued increase of spatial integration density are discussed.

A 330-500 GHz Zero-Biased Broadband Tripler Based on Terahertz Monolithic Integrated Circuits

A 330-500 GHz zero-biased broadband monolithic integrated tripler is reported. The measured results show that the maximum efficiency and the maximum output power are 2% and 194μW at 348 GHz. The saturation characteristic test shows that the output i dB compression point is about -8.5 dBm at 334 GHz and the maximum efficiency is obtained at the point, which is slightly below the 1 dB compression point. Compared with the conventional hybrid integrated circuit, a major advantage of the monolithic integrated circuit is the significant improvement of reliability and consistency. In this work, a terahertz monolithic frequency multiplier at this band is designed and fabricated.

A novel voltage output integrated circuit temperature sensor

The novel integrated circuit (IC) temperature sensor presented in this paper works similarly as a two terminal Zener, has breakdown voltage directly proportional to Kelvin temperature at 10 mV/℃, with typical error of less than ±1.0℃ over a temperature range from -50℃ to +125℃. In addition to all the features that conventional IC temperature sensors have, the new device also has very low static power dissipation ( 0.5 mW ) , low output impedance ( less than 1Ω), excellent stability, high reproducibility, and high precision. The sensor's circuit design and layout are discussed in detail. Applications of the sensor include almost any type of temperature sensing over the range of -50℃-+125℃. The low impedance and linear output of the device make interfacing the readout or control circuitry especially easy. Due to the excellent performance and low cost of this sensor, more applications of the sensor over wide temperature range are expected.

Simulation realization of skip cycle mode integrated control circuit in the switching power supply with low standby loss

This paper explores and proposes a design solution of an integrated skip cycle mode （SCM） control circuit with a simple structure. The design is simulated and implemented with XD10H-1.0μm modular DIMOS 650 V process. In order to meet the requirement of a wide temperature range and high yields of products, the schematic extracted from the layout is simulated with five process corners at 27℃ and 90℃. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed integrated circuit is immune to noise and achieves skipping cycle control when switching mode power supply （SMPS） works with low load or without load.

Reduction of signal reflection along through silicon via channel in high-speed three-dimensional integration circuit

The through silicon via （TSV） technology has proven to be the critical enabler to realize a three-dimensional （3D） gigscale system with higher performance but shorter interconnect length. However, the received digital signal after trans- mission through a TSV channel, composed of redistribution layers （RDLs）, TSVs, and bumps, is degraded at a high data-rate due to the non-idealities of the channel. We propose the Chebyshev multisection transformers to reduce the signal reflec- tion of TSV channel when operating frequency goes up to 20 GHz, by which signal reflection coefficient （$11） and signal transmission coefficient （$21） are improved remarkably by 150% and 73.3%, respectively. Both the time delay and power dissipation are also reduced by 4% and 13.3%, respectively. The resistance-inductance-conductance-capacitance （RLGC） elements of the TSV channel are iterated from scattering （S）-parameters, and the proposed method of weakening the signal reflection is verified using high frequency simulator structure （HFSS） simulation software by Ansoft.