Electronically steerable THz transmitters
Highly integrated, lightweight systems with long ranges are required in a variety of application areas. The high absolute bandwidth for communication and sensor systems, as well as the detection of spectroscopic material signatures, are the main drivers for THz applications. To enable or improve THz transmission systems for many of these applications, this project combines two different technologies. These are, on the one hand, highly integrated silicon-germanium (SiGe) front-end circuits operating at 0.5 THz and, on the other hand, holographic antennas using glass-based assembly and interconnection technology (AVT).
Although SiGe circuits can exhibit very high circuit complexity, their output power is limited in the THz range. While conventional phased-array concepts or dielectric lenses can improve the system’s EIRP, they face significant challenges in scaling the frequency to the THz range and in beam steering. Therefore, these circuits are combined with high-gain antennas. On a glass substrate, individual antenna elements with spatially overlapping apertures are designed in the form of holographic antennas for a scalable array, resulting in high aperture efficiencies and thus a high EIRP. In addition, for the first time, the antenna beam of a holographic antenna is to be controlled by a very high-resolution transmission phase provided by precise vector modulator circuits.
Within the project, the Institute of Integrated Systems is responsible for developing highly integrated SiGe BiCMOS-based front-ends operating at 0.5 THz with electronic beam steering for radar and communications applications.
Project partners
Funding
This project is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) under grant number 550901470.