Materials science

Optoelectronics

Terahertz radiation

Computer science

CMOS

Semiconductor

Electrical engineering

Heat sink

Transceiver

Diode

Engineering

Proceedings of the IEEE

In recent years, additive manufacturing has experienced rapid growth, due to its inherent capabilities for creating arbitrary 3-D structures, accessibility, and associated low manufacturing costs. This paper first reviews the state of the art in 3-D printing for terahertz (THz) applications and identifies the critical features required for such applications. The future potential for this technology is demonstrated experimentally with the first 3-D-printed, optically controlled THz IQ vector modulator. Here, miniature high-resistivity silicon implants are integrated into metal-pipe rectangular waveguides. The 3-D-printed split-block assembly also houses two packaged infrared laser diodes and a heat sink. The measured performance of a proof-of-principle 4-quaternary amplitude modulation (4-QAM) vector modulator that operates up to 500 GHz is reported. This new hybrid 3-D printing THz technology, which combines semiconductor devices with potentially low-cost, high-performance passive guided-wave structures repre...

Hybrid 3-D-Printing Technology for Tunable THz Applications