Active Plasmonic Antenna Arrays for Terahertz Frequency Communications
Abstract
In this project, we developed an electronically driven plasmonic device with the potential to generate on-chip THz signals in nanoscale transistors with specific structural asymmetry. A hydrodynamic treatment shows how the transistor asymmetry supports plasma wave amplification, giving rise to pronounced negative differential conductance (NDC). We demonstrate these behaviors in high electron-mobility transistors, which exhibit NDR in accordance with their designed asymmetry. The NDC onsets once the drift velocity in the channel reaches a threshold value, triggering a sustained plasma instability. We also show how this feature can be made to persist beyond room temperature (to at least 75 C). We also introduced two metal-graphene hybrid reflect array designs, one offering full beamsteering capabilities but with challenging materials requirements, and a second with more lax requirements that offers limited beamsteering capabilities. We fabricated reflect arrays based on the second design and demonstrated a clear response near the design frequencies of 1.25 and 1.0 THz. We also performed the first demonstration of non-specular reflection at 1.0 THz using a communications testbed. The outcomes of this project represent a significant step forward for efforts to develop active components for THz electronics, and will advance beamforming, beam steering, and tracking capabilities necessary for implementing active reflect arrays in THz links.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2023
- Accession Number
- AD1202478
Entities
People
- Erik Einarsson
- Jonathan P Bird
Organizations
- Research Foundation for the State University of New York