Terahertz coherent receiver using a single resonant tunnelling diode

Towards exploring advanced applications of terahertz (THz) electromagnetic waves, great efforts are being applied to develop a compact and sensitive THz receiver. Here, we propose a simple coherent detection system using a single resonant tunnelling diode (RTD) oscillator through self-oscillating mixing with an RTD oscillator injection-locked by a carrier wave. Coherent detection is successfully demonstrated with an enhancement in the sensitivity of >20 dB compared to that of direct detection. As a proof of concept, we performed THz wireless communications using an RTD coherent receiver and transmitter. We achieved 30-Gbit/s real-time error-free transmission, which is the highest among all electronic systems without error correction to date. Our results show that the proposed system can reduce the size and power consumption of various THz systems including sensing, imaging and ranging, which would enable progress to be made in a wide range of fields in such as material science, medicine, chemistry, biology, physics, astronomy, security, robotics and motor vehicle.