Terahertz Oscillator Chips Backside-coupled to Unclad Microphotonics

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a novel backside coupling method for terahertz oscillator chips with all-intrinsic-silicon waveguides, enabling broadband terahertz wave transmission from 270 GHz to 409 GHz.

Contribution

It introduces a viable backside coupling technique for terahertz chips and waveguides, utilizing resonant tunneling diodes for broadband terahertz generation.

Findings

Terahertz waves observed from 270 GHz to 409 GHz.

Successful backside coupling validated by waveguide transmission.

Demonstrated integration of terahertz oscillator with silicon waveguide.

Abstract

Terahertz technology is largely dependent upon planar on-chip antennas that radiate downwards through the substrate, and so an effective means to interface these antennas with integrated waveguides is an attractive prospect. We present a viable methodology for backside coupling between a terahertz oscillator chip and a broadband all-intrinsic-silicon dielectric waveguide. Our investigation employs resonant tunneling diodes as compact two-terminal electronic terahertz oscillators, and terahertz waves are observed from 270 GHz to 409 GHz. The fact that this power is accessed via a curved length of silicon waveguide validates successful backside coupling.