An Ultrawideband Microfabricated Gold-Based Antenna Array for Terahertz Communications

The microwave frequency band typically used for wireless communications will soon become saturated and will no longer be able to fulfill the high bandwidth demands of modern communication networks. Terahertz (THz) communication has appeared as a highly attractive, future-generation wireless technology that offers higher spectral bandwidth and, therefore, higher data rates. However, the full exploitation of THz technologies is contingent upon the availability of energy efficient sources and devices. In this article, we presented a fabrication and measurement of microscale planar inverted cone antenna (PICA) array made of gold. Using an ungrounded coplanar waveguide feed, the microfabricated structure provides a bandwidth of 37.9 \% with the resonant frequency of 0.925 THz. Given the cost of microfabrication is reducing substantially with rapid technological advancements, the results of this paper suggest that high-speed THz communications can be realized for widescale applications.