Add drop multiplexers for terahertz communications using two-wire waveguide based plasmonic circuits

Abstract: Terahertz (THz) band is considered as the next frontier in wireless communications. The emerging THz multiplexing techniques are expected to dramatically increase the information capacity of THz communications far beyond a single channel limit. In this work, we explore the THz frequency-division multiplexing modality enabled by novel add-drop multiplexer (ADM) design. Based on modular two-wire plasmonic waveguides fabricated using additive manufacturing and metallization techniques, we demonstrate four-port THz ADMs containing grating-loaded side couplers for operation at ~140 GHz carrier frequency. Particular attention is payed to the design of plasmonic waveguide Bragg gratings and directional couplers capable of splitting broadband THz light in spectral and spatial domains, respectively. Finally, we demonstrate multiplexing and demultiplexing of THz signals with bit rates up to 6 Gbps using the developed ADMs. We believe that proposed plasmonic circuits hold strong potential to provide robust integrated solutions for analogue signal processing in the upcoming THz communications.