A microfabricated low-profile wideband antenna array for terahertz communications

Area of Science:

• Electrical Engineering
• Electromagnetics
• Antenna Theory

Background:

• Terahertz (THz) communication is crucial for meeting future bandwidth demands.
• Realizing THz front-end components, especially wideband, low-profile, and directive antenna arrays, remains a significant challenge.
• Existing antenna designs struggle to meet the requirements for high-frequency communication systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and demonstrate a novel wideband cavity-backed slot antenna array for terahertz communication.
• To achieve a low-profile antenna design with a highly directive radiation pattern at 1 THz.
• To provide a foundational building block for advanced, high-gain antenna arrays in future communication networks.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a complementary antenna approach integrating series-resonant electric dipoles (corrugated surface) and parallel-resonant magnetic dipoles (slots).
• Designed a 2x2 cavity-backed slot antenna array operating at 1 THz.
• Fabricated the antenna by stacking multiple metallized layers using microfabrication technology.

Main Results:

• The fabricated antenna array demonstrated high efficiency at terahertz frequencies.
• Measured fractional bandwidth of 26% and a gain of 14 dBi, consistent with simulations.
• The antenna exhibits a unidirectional radiation pattern with stable frequency characteristics.

Conclusions:

• The proposed complementary antenna approach successfully addresses the challenge of wideband, low-profile THz antenna arrays.
• The 1 THz antenna array provides a viable solution for future high-bandwidth communication needs.
• This design serves as a key component for developing larger, more directive antenna systems for next-generation wireless communication.