MICROMACHINING FOR TERAHERTZ APPLICATIONS

An overview of recent progress in the research and development of micr omachined antennas, transmission lines, waveguides structures, and pla nar movable components for terahertz frequencies is presented. Microma chining is shown to provide a low-cost alternative to conventional (an d very expensive) machined-waveguide technology, resulting in antennas with excellent radiation patterns, low-loss tuners, and three-dimensi onal (3-D) micromachined structures suitable for terahertz application s. Fabrication procedures for a variety of micromachined waveguide and planar structures are described here, along with measured terahertz p erformance. Applications of micromachining techniques for terahertz sy stems include focal-plane imaging arrays requiring a large number of e lements and low-cost receivers for commercial and industrial applicati ons such as pollution monitoring.