On-chip terahertz Goubau-line waveguides with integrated photoconductive emitters and mode-discriminating detectors

We have measured the picosecond time-domain response of Goubau-line waveguides, formed on quartz substrates, by integrating regions of low-temperature-grown gallium arsenide into the waveguides to act both as pulsed current emitters and detectors. Using one pair of photoconductive switches for excitation and a second pair for detection, pulsed signal propagation of a low dispersion electric field mode was demonstrated in the Goubau-lines, with the signal bandwidth extending beyond 800 GHz. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that terahertz bandstop filters can be integrated into a Goubau-line for removal of specific frequencies from the transmitted pulses. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3216579]