Terahertz Communication Using Dielectric Subwavelength Fibers

Terahertz (THz) band (0.1-10 THz) is the next frontier for the ultra-high-speed communication systems. Currently, most of communications research in this spectral range is focused on wireless systems, while waveguide/fiber-based links have been less explored. Although free space communications have several advantages, the fiber-based communications provide superior performance in certain short-range communication applications such as multi-device connectivity in complex geometrical environments, secure signal delivery to hard-to-reach or highly protected environments etc. In this work, we present both experimental and numerical study of the short-range THz communications links that use subwavelength dielectric fibers for information transmission. Particularly, we use air cladded polypropylene-core subwavelength dielectric THz fibers of various diameters to study link performance as a function of the link length of up to ~10 m, and data bitrates of up to 6 Gbps at the carrier frequency of 128 GHz. The power budget of the THz fiber-based links is compared to that of free space links and we conclude that fiber links offer an excellent solution for various short-range applications.