TERAHERTZ-BANDWIDTH PULSE-PROPAGATION ON A COPLANAR STRIPLINE FABRICATED ON A THIN MEMBRANE

An ultra-broadband coplanar stripline employing a durable 1.4-mum-thic k membrane substrate has been devised, fabricated, and tested. Nearly distortionless propagation of terahertz-bandwidth electrical pulses ov er lengths in excess of 4 mm has been experimentally demonstrated usin g subpicosecond test signals and a sampling measurement technique base d on ultrashort-duration laser pulses. A comparison to pulse propagati on data on identical coplanar strips on a GaAs substrate illustrates a dramatic improvement in the radiation attenuation and phase velocity dispersion for the membrane CPS with increasing frequency.