Continuous Leakage from Slow-Wave Structure for Integrated All-Dielectric Uniform Leaky Wave Antenna

Abstract

We propose a concept to achieve continuous leakage from a slow-wave through a combination of tailored wave tunneling from a channel waveguide to a dielectric slab and effective-medium-based anti-reflection structures. The result is a metal-free uniform leaky-wave antenna that is entirely composed of intrinsic silicon. This holds potential to realize terahertz-range radar and non-contact sensing applications with no Ohmic loss. The antenna's peak gain is ∼20 dB at ∼280 GHz, and its main-lobe scans through a ∼70° arc over a frequency span from 225 GHz to 330 GHz. Unlike grating couplers, which are all-dielectric periodic leaky-wave antennas that are favored in the nanophotonic regime, our antenna exhibits no higher-order diffraction modes, nor is there any potential for an in-guide stopband at broadside.