Planar Circulator for Sub-Terahertz-Wave Reflection-Geometry Imaging

Abstract

A planar circulator circuit (PCC) implementing a 180 hybrid circuit for reflection-geometry sub-terahertz-wave imaging has been developed. The PCC is evaluated by measuring its signal transfer characteristics at around 300 GHz. A resonant behavior with a unidirectional cycling transmittance is observed in the PCC at around 270 GHz, indicating the proper function of the PCC as a circulator. The peak signal-to-background ratio is measured to be about 10. The PCC is integrated with a uni-traveling-carrier photodiode and a Schottky barrier diode to construct a photonic transceiver module. The characteristics of the PCC in the module are also evaluated by measuring images of a test sample. Although the image resolution decreases with signal frequency deviation from the resonant condition, it is confirmed that a practical contrast can be obtained for a bandwidth of about 40 GHz. Using the fabricated transceiver, the in vivo imaging of a human finger at 270 GHz is successfully demonstrated.