Threshold-Triggered Mems-Cmos Infrared Resonant Detector with Near-Zero Standby Power Consumption

This paper reports on the first experimental demonstration of an integrated microsystem that can turn itself ON to quantify the intensity of infrared (IR) radiation when an above-threshold IR signature is present, but otherwise remain dormant with near-zero standby power consumption. The proposed sensor system combines the unique advantage of two recently developed technologies, namely, the zero-power nature of micromechanical photoswitches (MPs) and the high resolution of aluminum nitride (AlN) MEMS resonant infrared detectors (RIDs), to achieve an unprecedented IR sensing capability. Thanks to the spectral selectivity enabled by the plasmonically-enhanced thermo-mechanical transduction in both MEMS structures, the proposed sensor system is capable of discriminating the spectral content of incoming IR radiation for the identification of events of interest. The prototype presented here is automatically powered up by the MP when the incoming IR radiation exceeds 440 nW showing a high IR detection resolution (noise equivalent power ~746.4 pW/Hz
^1/2
) in active state and a near-zero power consumption (~3.01 nW) in standby.