Investigation of modulation-capable silicon waveguides for efficient on-wafer terahertz interconnects

In this paper, silicon-based waveguides are investigated for on-wafer THz interconnect applications. A silicon based dielectric ribbon and ridge waveguide are both shown through HFSS modeling and simulation to have very low-loss transmission characteristics as low as .3dB/mm in the THz frequency spectrum. In addition, the modulation properties of both waveguides are investigated through a Drude model analysis as well as EM simulation. Several silicon ridge waveguide samples are fabricated using a simple silicon wet-etching technique. These waveguides are shown to efficiently transmit THz radiation, especially when the ridge is narrow. The low-loss nature of these waveguides shows the potential of silicon-based interconnects with built-in modulation capabilities for THz integrated circuit applications.