Terahertz Silicon-BCB-Quartz Dielectric Waveguide: An Efficient Platform for Compact THz Systems

A silicon-BCB-quartz (SBQ) terahertz (THz) dielectric waveguide is proposed, investigated, fabricated, and verified experimentally. In this structure, silicon and quartz are bonded using a thin adhesive layer, benzocyclobutene (BCB). The fabrication process of this new waveguide, which is very simple and can be performed using basic clean room facilities, is presented. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed waveguide structure, a number of samples are designed, fabricated, and measured for the 500-580 GHz frequency range. Using the proposed structure, a THz waveguide with losses as low as 0.026 dB/lambda(0) is achieved for the mentioned frequency range. Moreover, an SBQ bend is designed, fabricated, and the measurement results are presented. The proposed structure is low loss, efficient, easy-to-fabricate, and presents a platform for numerous dielectric-based THz passive and active devices.