Integrated millimeter-wave/terahertz smart structures

想象一下，像手机这样的便携式设备，除了它们今天所做的任何事情之外，还可以扫描和看到盒子里看不见的物体，可以感知好药和坏药的区别，可以立即区分良性皮肤病变和恶性癌细胞，并且可以在一瞬间将这张照片或信息发送到另一个移动设备！这些和许多其他功能，现在看起来像是虚构的，只是电磁波频谱的特定范围的一些功能，称为“毫米波和太赫兹（mmW/THz）”，如果可以开发出正确的技术，可以提供给我们。毫米波/太赫兹波段位于较低的射频（RF）和光之间，具有两方面的优势：射频的穿透能力和光学的短波长分辨率。这一频段的频率为安全成像（相对于危险的x射线）、传感、检测复杂的生物分子和药物、极端带宽无线电通信提供了许多独特的机会，并提供了可以将射电天文学家带回几乎追溯到“起源”的足迹。非凡的太赫兹市场（通信、医药、安全、制造等）预计到2020年将达到数十亿美元。虽然在过去的几十年里，人们已经知道了许多这些惊人的特性和可能性，但实际应用主要局限于国防、空间研究和科学光谱学等非常复杂和昂贵的实验配置。这项研究的主要目的是研究低成本的技术，这些技术可以将这些惊人的能力带到大众市场的商业设备上。基于毫米波/太赫兹技术的最新进展和先前的研究成果，申请人和他的团队一直在为许多通信和传感/成像应用开发低成本集成毫米波/太赫兹设备和系统解决方案。基于这一经验，并在滑铁卢大学拥有世界一流的毫米波/太赫兹设施，申请人小组建议探索和开发一个通用的集成技术平台，用于这种最少被发现的电磁波范围的实际应用。

Imagine portable devices like mobile phone, in addition to whatever they do today, can scan and see the invisible objects inside a box, can sense the difference between a good and bad drug, can distinguish between a benign skin lesion and a malign cancerous cell instantly, and can send this picture or information to another mobile device in a split second! These and a many other functions, which may seem like fiction these days, are just some of the capabilities that a particular range of electromagnetic wave spectrum, called "Millimeter-wave and Terahertz (mmW/THz)" can offer to us if the right type of technology can be developed. Sitting between lower radio frequency (RF) and light, mmW/THz band has the best of both worlds: penetration capability of RF, and short-wavelength resolution of optics. This band of frequencies offer a number of unique opportunities for safe imaging (as opposed to dangerous X-ray), sensing, detecting complex bio-molecules and drugs, extreme bandwidth radio communications, and provide foot prints that can take radio-astronomers back in time almost to the "Origin". Extraordinary THz markets (communication, medicine, security, manufacturing, etc.) are forecasted to reach $billions by 2020. Although many of these amazing properties and possibilities have been known over last few decades, the practical applications were mainly restricted to very complex and costly experimental configurations for defense, space research, and scientific spectroscopy. The main objective of the proposed research is to investigate low-cost technologies that can bring these amazing capabilities to mass market commercial devices. Built on recent advances in mmW/THz technologies and prior research results, the applicant and his group have been developing low-cost integrated mmW/THz device and system solutions for a number of communication and sensing/imaging applications. Based on this experience and with the availability of a world class mmW/THz facility at the University of Waterloo, the applicant's group proposes to explore and develop a common integrated technology platform for real life applications of this least discovered range of electromagnetic waves.