Accurate CAD modelling of metal conduction losses at terahertz frequencies

Being able to accurately characterize the terahertz performance of simple metal conductors is very important for the CAD modelling of components, circuits and systems operating at these frequencies. A comprehensive survey of published experimental data for the room temperature surface resistance of simple metals, from DC up to the edge of the mid-infrared frequency range, has been undertaken. It has been found that, with the optical measurements performed within the far-IR region, there does not appear to be anomalous intrinsic conduction loss phenomenon at room temperature; this is in direct contradiction to the findings of other research groups. This is because the non-optical measurement approaches adopted by Tischer, Schwab et al. and Batt et al. are fundamentally flawed, since anomalous findings could be attributed to one or more factors that were not taken into account.