Wideband Low-Cost Smart Passive and Active Integrated Antennas for THz Wireless Communications

用于太赫兹无线通信的宽带低成本智能无源和有源集成天线（WISDOM）在智能、宽带和低成本太赫兹设备的设计和制造方面取得了重大进展。为了做到这一点，该联盟建立在3D打印，天线，太赫兹电路和系统知识的非常互补的专业知识之上。WISDOM的第一个关键要素是使用3D喷墨打印快速制造太赫兹无源和有源天线。这种方法将与CMOS中的太赫兹电路设计相结合。利用功能材料的多材料3D喷墨打印，同时沉积导电和介电材料；包括热和紫外快速固化沉积结构，片上信号与自由空间辐射之间的有效耦合将实现。这将导致结合两种廉价和大批量技术的重要突破，为面向消费者的太赫兹产品铺平道路。第二个关键因素是将cmos上的3d打印技术与空间功率组合阵列天线相结合，以开发高效的太赫兹波束，克服阻碍当今太赫兹消费产品的自由空间路径损耗增加的问题。在WISDOM中，我们还计划展示用于宽带太赫兹无线通信的智能空间功率组合有源阵列架构的概念。核心WISDOM ic将用作主动像素，提供空间功率，并结合发射和接收模式下每个像素的完整单独幅度和相位设置。由于使用3D打印（用于天线）和CMOS工艺（用于电路），它大大降低了太赫兹器件和系统的成本，同时在太赫兹前端适应性方面取得了重大进展。许多宽带天线元件、阵列、片上有源天线以及太赫兹前端电路（>300 GHz）将被设计、制造和测量。

WIdeband low-cost Smart passive and active integrateD antennas for thz wireless cOMmunications (WISDOM) proposes a significant advance towards the design and fabrication of smart, wideband and low-cost THz devices. In order to do so, the consortium is built from very complementary expertise with knowledge on 3D printing, antenna, THz circuit and system. A first key element of WISDOM, is the use of 3D inkjet printing for fast fabrication of THz passive and active antennas. This approach will be combined with THz circuit designs in CMOS. Using multi-material 3D inkjet printing of functional materials to simultaneously deposit conductive and dielectric materials; including thermal and UV rapid solidification of deposited structures, efficient coupling between on-chip signals to free-space radiation will be achieved. This will lead to an important breakthrough that combines two cheap and high-volume technologies, paving a path to consumer-oriented THz products. A second key element is the combination of the 3D-on-CMOS printing technology with spatial-power combining array antennas, in order to develop highly-efficient THz beams that overcome the increased free-space path loss that prevents THz consumer products today. In WISDOM, we also plan to demonstrate the concepts with a smart spatial power-combining active array architecture for wideband THz wireless communications. The core WISDOM ICs will be used as active pixels providing spatial power combining with full individual amplitude and phase settings of each pixel in transmit and receive mode. Due to the use of 3D printing (for antennas) and CMOS process (for circuits), it dramatically reduces the cost of THz devices and systems while providing significant advances in THz frontend adaptability. A number of wideband antenna elements, arrays, on-chip active antennas as well as THz front ends circuits (>300 GHz) will be designed, fabricated and measured.