Silicon Lens Optimization to Create Diffuse, Uniform Illumination from Incoherent THz Source Arrays

Arrays of terahertz (THz) sources provide a pathway to overcoming the radiation power limitations of single sources. Several independent sources of THz radiation may be implemented in a single integrated circuit, thereby realizing a monolithic THz source array of high output power. Integrated THz sources must generally be backside-coupled to extended hemispherical dielectric lenses in order to suppress substrate modes and extract THz power. However, this lens also increases antenna gain and thereby produces several non-overlapping beams. This is because individual source pixels are relatively large. Hence, their spatial separation on-chip translates to angular separation in the far-field. In other words, there are gaps in their field of view into which very little THz power is projected. Therefore, they cannot homogeneously illuminate an imaging target. This article presents a simple, practical, and scalable method to convert arrays of incoherent THz sources into a diffuse, uniform illumination source without the need for reducing pixel size. Briefly, individual beam divergence is optimized by tailoring the dimensions of the extended hemispherical dielectric lens such that the far-field beams of adjacent source pixels overlap and combine to form a uniform far-field beam. We applied this method to an incoherent 8 × 8-pixel THz source array radiating 10.3 dBm at 0.42 THz as a proof of concept and thereby realized a 10.3-dBm 0.42-THz diffuse, uniform illumination source that was then deployed in a demonstration of THz active imaging.