Chen Xin, Zeng Jiaye, Liu Mingbin, Zheng Chilin, Wang Xiaoyuan, Liu Chaoran, Yang Xun
School of Electronic and Information Engineering, China West Normal University, Nanchong 637002, China.
Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Ecological and Environmental Big Data, Hangzhou 321001, China.
Micromachines (Basel). 2024 Sep 27;15(10):1201. doi: 10.3390/mi15101201.
In this article, we propose a novel natural light detector based on high-performance silicon nanowire (SiNW) arrays. We achieved a highly controllable and low-cost fabrication of SiNW natural light detectors by using only a conventional micromachined CMOS process. The high activity of SiNWs leads to the poor long-term stability of the SiNW device, and for this reason, we have designed a fully wrapped structure for SiNWs. SiNWs are wrapped in transparent silicon nitride and silicon oxide films, which greatly improves the long-term stability of the detector; at the same time, this structure protects the SiNWs from breakage. In addition, the SiNW arrays are regularly distributed on the top of the detector, which can quickly respond to natural light. The response time of the detector is about 0.015 s. Under the illumination of 1 W·m light intensity, multiple SiNWs were detected together. The signal strength of the detector reached 1.82 μA, the signal-to-noise ratio was 47.6 dB, and the power consumption was only 0.91 μW. The high-intensity and highly reliable initial signal reduces the cost and complexity of the backend signal processing circuit. A low-cost and high-performance STM32 microcontroller can realize the signal processing task. Therefore, we built a high-performance SiNW natural optoelectronic detection system based on an STM32 microcontroller, which achieved the real-time detection of natural light intensity, with an accuracy of ±0.1 W·m. These excellent test performances indicate that the SiNW array natural light detector in this article meey the requirements of practicality and has broad potential for application.
在本文中，我们提出了一种基于高性能硅纳米线（SiNW）阵列的新型自然光探测器。我们仅通过传统的微机械加工CMOS工艺就实现了SiNW自然光探测器的高度可控且低成本制造。SiNW的高活性导致SiNW器件的长期稳定性较差，因此，我们为SiNW设计了一种完全包裹的结构。SiNW被包裹在透明的氮化硅和氧化硅薄膜中，这大大提高了探测器的长期稳定性；同时，这种结构保护SiNW不被破坏。此外，SiNW阵列规则地分布在探测器顶部，能够快速响应自然光。探测器的响应时间约为0.015 s。在1 W·m光强的照射下，多个SiNW一起被检测到。探测器的信号强度达到1.82 μA，信噪比为47.6 dB，功耗仅为0.91 μW。高强度且高度可靠的初始信号降低了后端信号处理电路的成本和复杂性。一个低成本且高性能的STM32微控制器就能实现信号处理任务。因此，我们基于STM32微控制器构建了一个高性能的SiNW自然光电探测系统，实现了自然光强的实时检测，精度为±0.1 W·m。这些优异的测试性能表明本文中的SiNW阵列自然光探测器满足实用性要求，具有广阔的应用潜力。
