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A CMOS cascode amplifier, biased near the threshold voltage of a MOSFET, for terahertz direct detection is proposed. A CMOS terahertz imaging circuit (size: 250 × 180 ìm) is designed and fabricated on the basis of low-cost 180-nm CMOS process technology. The imaging circuit consists of a microstrip patch antenna, an impedance-matching circuit, and a direct detector. It achieves a responsivity of 51.9 kV/W at 0.915 THz and a noise equivalent power (NEP) of 358 pW/Hz^1/2 at a modulation frequency of 31 Hz. NEP is estimated to be reduced to 42 pW/Hz^1/2 at 100 kHz. These results suggest that cost-efficient terahertz imaging is possible in the near future.

A CMOS cascode amplifier, biased near the threshold voltage of a MOSFET, for terahertz direct detection is proposed. A CMOS terahertz imaging circuit (size: 250 × 180 μm) is designed and fabricated on the basis of low-cost 180-nm CMOS process technology. The imaging circuit consists of a microstrip patch antenna, an impedance-matching circuit, and a direct detector. It achieves a responsivity of 51.9 kV/W at 0.915 THz and a noise equivalent power (NEP) of 358 pW/Hz^½ at a modulation frequency of 31 Hz. NEP is estimated to be reduced to 42 pW/Hz^½ at 100 kHz. These results suggest that cost-efficient terahertz imaging is possible in the near future.