10 MHz to 1.1 THz Vector Network Analyser

电磁频谱的低THz频带覆盖从大约100 GHz到大约1 THz的频率。就波长而言，这对应于3毫米到0.3毫米，在无线电和光学范围之间。这创造了一系列特殊的应用机会和工程问题，使这个乐队成为一个专业。在伯明翰大学，我们已经在研究这一频段的潜在未来应用，包括短距离超宽带通信，用于自动驾驶汽车等移动平台的微型高分辨率雷达系统，基于原子和分子量子态的新型传感器，以及允许屏蔽电磁波的人工超材料和新形式的天线。在这个项目中，我们正在建立一个先进的测量设施，使研究人员能够测试和验证新的低太赫兹设备和系统。矢量网络分析仪测量整个感兴趣波段的散射参数。散射参数表示THz波通过多端口电路和传输介质的透射和反射。它们使研究人员能够根据模拟器预测的理论性能精确地测试他们的新组件设计。这在低THz波段非常重要，因为对电子元件中的随机表面粗糙度和轻微结构未对准的敏感性非常高。散射参数测量还使研究人员能够评估新材料的电磁特性，测试新形式的传感器，并验证电磁波通过天线和传播介质的传输。在微波波段的较低频率下测量和使用散射参数是常见的做法，但是在低THz频带中需要高度专业化的设备来产生具有所需频率和相位精度的高频振荡，通过在传输之前将较低频率矢量网络分析器（VNA）的输出频率放大，并将所得到的反射或传输的接收THz信号向下转换回较低频率。该项目将涉及采购和安装VNA和乘法器/下变频器头，并将该设备提供给伯明翰大学和更广泛的学术界和工业界的研究人员，以鼓励和促进旨在利用目前几乎未使用的频率范围的系统和组件的研究和开发。

The low THz band of the electromagnetic spectrum covers frequencies from around 100 GHz to around 1 THz. In terms of wavelengths, this corresponds to 3 mm down to 0.3 mm, in between the radio and optical ranges. This creates a special set of application opportunities and engineering problems, making this band a specialism in its own right. At Birmingham University, we are already working on potential future applications of this band, including short range exceptionally broad bandwidth communications, tiny high resolution radar systems for moving platforms such as autonomous vehicles, novel sensors based on atomic and molecular quantum states, and artificial metamaterials that allow shielding from electromagnetic waves and new forms of antennas. In this project we are establishing an advanced measurement facility that will enable researchers to test and characterise novel low THz devices and systems. The vector network analyser measures scattering parameters throughout this band of interest. Scattering parameters represent the transmission and reflection of THz waves through and from multiple port circuits and transmission media. They enable researchers to test their novel component designs precisely against the theoretical performance predicted by a simulator. This is very important in the low THz bands, because the sensitivity to random surface roughness and slight structural misalignment in electronic components is very high. Scattering parameter measurements also enable researchers to evaluate the electromagnetic properties of new materials, to test new forms of sensors and to characterise the transmission of electromagnetic waves through antennas and propagation media.The measurement and use of scattering parameters at lower frequencies, in the microwave bands, is common practice, but in the low THz bands it requires highly specialised equipment to generate the high frequency oscillations with the required frequency and phase accuracy, by multiplying up the output frequency of a lower frequency vector network analyser (VNA) before transmission, and converting the resulting reflected or transmitted received THz signals back down to the lower frequency. This project will involve procuring and setting up the VNA and multiplier/downconverter heads, and making this equipment available to researchers in Birmingham University and in the wider academic community and in industry, to encourage and facilitate research and development of systems and components designed to exploit a currently almost unused range of frequencies.