Nanotip-based CMOS photosensitive architecture for highly sensitive near-infrared imaging detection

A type of nanotip-based photosensitive architecture for near-infrared imaging detection is effectively constructed by tightly coupling a chip of common photosensitive complementary–metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) and a silicon nanotip optical antenna. Benefiting from the stimulated surface-wave nano-accumulating over silicon nanotips, the detectors exhibit a highly sensitive near-infrared detection feature with a stable normalized detectivity (D*) of ∼3.25 × 1010 cm·Hz1/2·W−1 and also the maximum value of ∼4.86 × 1011 cm·Hz1/2·W−1 corresponding to weak near-infrared radiation with a nW-level power. Moreover, a polarization sensitive character of the nanotip-based CMOS photosensitive architecture, enabling imaging grayscale closely related to incident radiation level being locally elevated, is also explored. The proposed antenna-based imaging detection approach exhibits a wider radiation response range as well as higher imaging contrast and definition. It can be expected that the imaging detection method will present a further developing potential according to the nanotip-based polarized imaging detection strategy.