A microfabricated low-profile wideband antenna array for terahertz communications

While terahertz communications are considered to be the future solutions for the increasing demands on bandwidth, terahertz equivalents of radio frequency front-end components have not been realized. It remains challenging to achieve wideband, low profile antenna arrays with highly directive beams of radiation. Here, based on the complementary antenna approach, a wideband 2 x 2 cavity-backed slot antenna array with a corrugated surface is proposed. The approach is based on a unidirectional antenna with a cardiac radiation pattern and stable frequency characteristics that is achieved by integrating a series-resonant electric dipole with a parallel-resonant magnetic dipole. In this design, the slots work as magnetic dipoles while the corrugated surface radiates as an array of electric dipoles. The proposed antenna is realized at 1 THz operating frequency by stacking multiple metallized layers using the microfabrication technology. S-parameter measurements of this terahertz low-profile metallic antenna array demonstrate high efficiency at terahertz frequencies. Fractional bandwidth and gain are measured to be 26% and 14 dBi which are consistent with the simulated results. The proposed antenna can be used as the building block for larger antenna arrays with more directive beams, paving the way to develop high gain low-profile antennas for future communication needs.