All-silicon, low-crosstalk terahertz waveguide crossing based on effective medium
Date
2021
Authors
Lees, H.
Gao, W.
Withayachumnankul, W.
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Journal article
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Optics Letters, 2021; 46(21):5469-5472
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Harrison Lees, Weijie Gao and Withawat Withayachumnankul
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Abstract
All-silicon effective-medium-clad waveguides are a promising candidate for an integrated terahertz platform with high efficiency and broad bandwidth. Waveguide crossings are essential circuit components, allowing for wave routing over shorter paths to increase circuit density. However, the simple intersection of two orthogonal effective-medium-clad waveguides results in terahertz wave scattering, leading to relatively high cross talk. In this work, a low-loss, 40% fractional bandwidth crossing utilizing Maxwell–Garnet effective-medium theory and wavefront planarization techniques is proposed. This monolithic structure is fabricated on a single high-resistivity float-zone silicon wafer using a deep reactive ion etching process with a modest 4.4 mm diameter (4.03𝜆0) structure footprint. Experimentally verified results show low insertion loss, less than 1 dB, and average cross talk level of −39dB for both 𝐸𝑥11 and 𝐸𝑦11 operating modes, over 220–330 GHz with a 40% fractional bandwidth. This waveguide crossing can be foreseen as a useful routing component for terahertz all-silicon integrated circuits. The proposed techniques are applicable to other dielectric waveguide platforms at infrared and optical frequencies.
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© 2021 Optical Society of America