MM wave p-i-n diode development

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Teratech Components Ltd (Teratech) is requesting support to develop a new type of product: the airbridged p-i-n diode to complement teratech's wide range of airbridged schottky diodes. Most parts of the electromagnetic spectrum are well understood and exploited, but the terahertz (THz) region between microwaves and infrared is still largely unexplored. The ability to see through obscuring dielectric materials with higher spatial resolution than with microwaves, and the potential for high speed data transfer, makes the THz spectrum of particular interest. Using airbridged contact structures, similar to those employed in current schottky products, p-i-n diodes will be designed to operate to upper frequencies at least twice that of currently available commercial devices. Primary uses for these devices are within switching and attenuation circuits; which are usd in applications as diverse as thermal imaging (for security and medical purposes), millimetric radar, sub-millimetre spectroscopy, process technology, near field imaging at sub-wavelength resolution and high bandwidth data transfer. These, and other applications, are backed by an emerging international market in millimetre and sub-millimetre test instrumentation.