volume | PIER Journals

Abstract

In this article, a time-domain calibration procedure is proposed for pulsed Terahertz Integrated Circuits (TIC) used in on-chip applications, where the conventional calibration methods are not applicable. The proposed post-detection method removes the unwanted linear distortions, such as interfering echoes and frequency dispersion, by using only one single-port measurement. The method employs a wave-transfer model for analysis of the TIC, and the model parameters are obtained by a proposed blind estimation algorithm. A complete implementation of the method is demonstrated for a fabricated TIC, when used in an on-chip sensing application. The features of interest in the measured signal, such as absorption lines, can be masked or weakened by the distortion of the THz signal happening in a TIC. The proposed signal recovery approach improves the detection of those otherwise hidden features, and can significantly enhance the performance of existing TICs. To show the effectiveness of the proposed de-embedding method, numerical results are presented for simulated and measured signals. The method presented in this article is enabling for accurate TIC applications, and can be utilized to optimally design novel TIC structures for specific purposes.

1. Tonouchi, M., "Cutting-edge terahertz technology," Nature Photonics, Vol. 1, No. 2, 97-105, 2007.
doi:10.1038/nphoton.2007.3 Google Scholar

2. Siegel, P., "Terahertz technology," IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, Vol. 50, No. 3, 910-928, 2002.
doi:10.1109/22.989974 Google Scholar

3. Siegel, P., "Terahertz technology in biology and medicine," IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, Vol. 52, No. 10, 2438-2447, 2004.
doi:10.1109/TMTT.2004.835916 Google Scholar

4. Mittleman, D., M. Gupta, R. Neelamani, R. Baraniuk, J. Rudd, and M. Koch, "Recent advances in terahertz imaging," Applied Physics B: Lasers and Optics, Vol. 68, No. 6, 1085-1094, 1999.
doi:10.1007/s003400050750 Google Scholar

5. Beard, M., G. Turner, and C. Schmuttenmaer, "Terahertz spectroscopy," Journal of Physical Chemistry B, Vol. 106, No. 29, 7146-7159, 2002.
doi:10.1021/jp020579i Google Scholar

6. Wood, C., J. Cunningham, I. Hunter, P. Tosch, E. Linfield, and A. Davies, "On-chip pulsed terahertz systems and their applications," International Journal of Infrared and Millimeter Waves, Vol. 27, No. 4, 557-569, 2006.
doi:10.1007/s10762-006-9107-6 Google Scholar

7. Neshat, M., D. Saeedkia, R. Sabry, and S. Safavi-Naeini, "An integrated continuous-wave terahertz biosensor," Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 6549, 65490E, 2007.
doi:10.1117/12.718619 Google Scholar

8. Lu, J., L. Chen, T. Kao, H. Chang, H. Chen, A. Liu, Y. Chen, R. Wu, W. Liu, J. Chyi, et al. "Terahertz microchip for illicit drug detection," IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 18, No. 21/24, 2254, 2006.
doi:10.1109/LPT.2006.883285 Google Scholar

9. Nagel, M., P. Bolivar, M. Brucherseifer, H. Kurz, A. Bosserhoff, and R. Buttner, "Integrated THz technology for labelfree genetic diagnostics," Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 80, 154, 2002.
doi:10.1063/1.1428619 Google Scholar

10. Oppenheim, A. V. and R. W. Schafer, Discrete-time Signal Processing, Prentice Hall, 1999.

11. Haykin, S., Blind Deconvolution, Prentice Hall, 1994.

12. Bell, A. and T. Sejnowski, "An information-maximization approach to blind separation and blind deconvolution," Neural Computation, Vol. 7, No. 6, 1129-1159, 1995.
doi:10.1162/neco.1995.7.6.1129 Google Scholar

13. Ayers, G. and J. Dainty, "Interative blind deconvolution method and its applications," Optics Letters, Vol. 13, No. 7, 547, 1988.
doi:10.1364/OL.13.000547 Google Scholar

14. Vaseghi, S., Advanced Signal Processing and Digital Noise Reduction, Wiley Chichester, 1996.

15. Fletcher, J. R., G. P. Swift, D. C. Dai, J. M. Chamberlain, and P. C. Upadhya, "Pulsed terahertz signal reconstruction," Journal of Applied Physics, 113105-1-8, Dec. 2007. Google Scholar

16. Hirsch, O., P. Alexander, and L. Gladden, "Techniques for cancellation of interfering multiple re°ections in terahertz time-domain measurements," Microelectronics Journal, Vol. 39, No. 5, 841-848, 2008.
doi:10.1016/j.mejo.2008.01.001 Google Scholar

17. Heidari, A., "Systems and methods for blind echo cancellation,", US Patent No. 12/575,184, 2009. Google Scholar

18. Dorney, T., R. Baraniuk, and D. Mittleman, "Material parameter estimation with terahertz time-domain spectroscopy," Journal of the Optical Society of America A, Vol. 18, No. 7, 1562-1571, 2001.
doi:10.1364/JOSAA.18.001562 Google Scholar

19. Scheller, M., C. Jansen, and M. Koch, "Analyzing sub-100-μm samples with transmission terahertz time domain spectroscopy," Optics Communications, Vol. 282, No. 7, 1304-1306, 2009.
doi:10.1016/j.optcom.2008.12.061 Google Scholar

20. Saleh, B. E. A. and M. C. Teich, Fundamentals of Photonics, John Wiley & Sons, 2007.

21. Agilent Technologies, http://www.agilent.com, .

Dr. Abdorreza Heidari

Dr. Mohammad Neshat

Dr. Daryoosh Saeedkia

Dr. Safieddin Safavi-Naeini