A RECEIVING MODULE FOR A TERAHERTZ RANGE RECEIVER

Abstract

Recently, electromagnetic radiation in the terahertz range has attracted increasing attention of scientists in the fields of radiophysics, satellite communication systems, unmanned vehicle development, radar, and related fields. Practical exploitation of this range could provide a powerful impetus to scientific research in a wide range of fields, such as space communications, medicine, cellular communication systems, and many others. The terahertz range opens up new possibilities for providing broadband channels. In the terahertz range, it is relatively easy to create communication channels with a bandwidth of several tens of gigahertz.

Currently, most radio engineering systems use superheterodyne receivers due to their high sensitivity and adjacent channel selectivity. In the terahertz range, losses in the microwave path significantly contribute to the receiver's noise figure. Therefore, considerable attention is being paid to the development of quasi-optical devices for combining the signal and local oscillator power.

Schottky-barrier diode microwave mixers used in the shortwave portion of the terahertz range require high local oscillator power (≥ 10 mW), and significant losses in the local oscillator channel significantly limit the use of such devices. Therefore, the use of an interferometric combining circuit is of considerable interest. This could be a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, which contains two dielectric beam splitters and two angular bends. The interferometric combining circuit can be significantly improved by using a polarizing Michelson interferometer, which allows for a significant reduction in the device size.

This article proposes a receiving module for a terahertz receiver using a polarizing Michelson interferometer.