Integration of electromagnetic detector on integrated chip

A device includes an integrated circuit (IC) and at least one ultra-small resonant structure and a detection mechanism are formed on said IC. At least the ultra-small resonant structure portion of the device is vacuum packaged. The ultra-small resonant structure includes a plasmon detector having a transmission line. The detector mechanism includes a generator mechanism constructed and adapted to generate a beam of charged particles along a path adjacent to the transmission line; and a detector microcircuit disposed along said path, at a location after said beam has gone past said line, wherein the generator mechanism and the detector microcircuit are disposed adjacent transmission line and wherein a beam of charged particles from the generator mechanism to the detector microcircuit electrically couples a plasmon wave traveling along the metal transmission line to the microcircuit. The detector mechanism may be electrically connected to the underlying IC.

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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This relates to ultra-small electronic devices, and, more particularly, integrating such devices with integrated circuits and chips.

INTRODUCTION

Integrated circuits (ICs) are ubiquitous. While it is desirable to increase the functionality (such as inter-chip optical communications) of existing ICs, this is typically done through external devices and connections.

Various ultra-small resonant structures have been described in the related applications to perform a variety of functions, including optical data transfer functions. These ultra-small resonant devices are functionally compatible with standard ICs.

Related U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/400,280, entitled “Resonant Detector for Optical Signals,” filed Apr. 10, 2006, and which has been incorporated herein by reference, describes various ultra-small resonant detectors for optical signals. Related U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/418,318, entitled “Integration of Vacuum Microelectronic Device with Integrated Circuit,” filed on even date herewith, which has also been incorporated herein by reference, describes integrating ultra-small resonant structures with ICs. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/418,078, entitled “Coupling energy in a plasmon wave to an electron beam,” filed on even date herewith, which has also been incorporated herein by reference, describes coupling energy in a plasmon wave to an electron beam using ultra-small resonant structures.

As noted in application Ser. No. 11/418,318, any of the devices described in applications Ser. Nos. 11/400,280 and/or 11/418,078, may be integrated with an IC.

THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The Figure shows an integrated structure in which IC100is integrated with a structure consisting of a source of charged particles (e.g., cathode102), anode and focusing deflector plates104and a detector system106. The cathode emits a beam of charged particles105towards the detector system106.

An ultra-small resonant structure (“URS”), e.g., transmission line,108(preferably a metal line) is disposed/formed on the IC100. The URS108may be a line as described in related application Ser. No. 11/418,078, which has been incorporated herein by reference. The end (denoted110in the drawing) of the transmission line108is preferably pointed. The transmission line108may be straight or curved.

The source of charged particles102and corresponding detector106are positioned so that the beam of charged particles (denoted105in the drawing) generated by the source102is disrupted or deflected by a change in the magnetic and/or electric field surrounding the end110of the transmission line108. Preferably the source of charged particles102and the corresponding detector are positioned near the end110of the transmission line108. In some cases the beam102may be substantially perpendicular to a central axis of the transmission line108.

The detector106is constructed and adapted to detect breaks or deflections of the beam105. Those skilled in the art will realize, upon reading this description and the related U.S. application Ser. No. 11/400,280, that the detector106can provide a signal indicative of the detected plasmon waves to other circuitry (not shown). In particular, the detector106may provide such a signal to circuitry within the IC, e.g., in a manner described in related application Ser. No. 11/418,318.

The detector system106may be any detector system such as described in related application Ser. No. 11/400,280, which has been incorporated herein by reference, or it may be any other detector system.

Plasmon waves on the transmission line108travel in the direction of the end110. As the waves reach the end110, they cause disruption of a magnetic and/or electric field around the point which, in turn, deflects the particle beam102. The detector106detects the deflection and thereby recognizes the presence and duration of the plasmon waves. Plasmon waves will travel along the side surface of the transmission line108and along its top surface.

Plasmon waves may travel in the transmission line108for a variety of reasons, e.g., because of a light wave (W) incident on the transmission line. However, this system contemplates using a plasmon wave detector described herein, regardless of the source or cause of the wave. The plasmon wave may contain or be indicative of a data signal.

Although the transmission line is preferably metal, those skilled in the art will realize, upon reading this description, that the transmission line may be formed of other non-metallic substances or of a combination of metallic and non-metallic substances. For example, the transmission line may comprise silver (Ag).

The IC100may be any IC formed, e.g., with conventional semiconductor processing. The IC100may be, e.g., silicon or a compound such as GaAs, GaN, ImP, etc.

Those skilled in the art will realize upon reading this description that the end of the transmission line does not have to have a pointed end. Further, the detector does not have to be at an end of the line, although such embodiments are presently considered to increase the field strength and thus make detection easier. For example, the emitter and detector are on opposite sides of the line, and the particle beam is deflected so that it passes adjacent to (in this case over), the transmission line.

The charged particle beam can include ions (positive or negative), electrons, protons and the like. The beam may be produced by any source, including, e.g., without limitation an ion gun, a thermionic filament, a tungsten filament, a cathode, a field-emission cathode, a planar vacuum triode, an electron-impact ionizer, a laser ionizer, a chemical ionizer, a thermal ionizer, or an ion-impact ionizer.

The structures described here can be formed on any external surface of the IC.

Since the particle beam emitted by the source of charged particles may be deflected by any electric or magnetic field, one or more shields or shielding structure(s) [not shown in the drawings] may be added to block out unwanted fields. Such shield(s) and/or shielding structure(s) may be formed on the same substrate as the source of charged particles and/or the transmission line so that only fields from the transmission line will interact with the particle beam.

Those skilled in the art will realize, upon reading this description, that the light wave W may encode data. The light wave may be generated by any source, including using ultra-small light-emitting resonant structures such as, e.g., disclosed in the related applications. In cases where the light wave W encodes data, the detector106may provide signals indicative of those data, e.g., to circuitry in the IC100. In this manner, the URS108may be used to detect data encoded in a light wave W and to provide those data to other circuitry, e.g., in the IC.

Filters may be incorporated into the structure or added on top of the structure in order to filter the incoming EMR. Additionally, a reflective cavity may be constructed below the device to increase the absorption of incoming EMR. In some cases, the depth of the reflective cavity may be ¼ λ, where λ is the wavelength of the EMR to be detected.

Although only one ultra-small resonant EM detection structure is shown herein, those skilled in the art will realize, upon reading this description and the related U.S. application Ser. No. 11/400,280, that more than one ultra-small resonant structure may be formed on an IC.

The ultra-small resonant structures may be made, e.g., using techniques such as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/917,511, entitled “Patterning Thin Metal Film by Dry Reactive Ion Etching” and/or U.S. application Ser. No. 11/203,407, entitled “Method Of Patterning Ultra-Small Structures,” both of which have been incorporated herein by reference.

The ultra-small resonant structures described are preferably under vacuum conditions during operation. Accordingly, in each of the exemplary embodiments described herein, the entire integrated package/circuit (which includes the IC and ultra-small resonant structures) may be vacuum packaged. Alternatively, the portion of the package containing at least the ultra-small resonant structure(s) should be vacuum packaged. Our invention does not require any particular kind of evacuation structure. Many known hermetic sealing techniques can be employed to ensure the vacuum condition remains during a reasonable lifespan of operation. We anticipate that the devices can be operated in a pressure up to atmospheric pressure if the mean free path of the electrons is longer than the device length at the operating pressure.

While certain configurations of structures have been illustrated for the purposes of presenting the basic structures of the present invention, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that other variations are possible which would still fall within the scope of the appended claims. While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.