A silicon-based parabolic sub-THz reflector antenna for gain enhancement and near-field focus applications

This paper presents the first silicon-based parabolic Sub-THz reflector antenna with corresponding fabrication processes. The antenna is side fed with an on-chip 340 GHz patch antenna on a reflector made of stacked micromachined silicon substrates with a parabolic-shaped Kapton film coated with aluminum on top. The antenna with a size of 18 ×18 ×4 mm3 and an aperture of ∼10mm can be easily integrated with monolithic microwave integrated circuit sources, i.e. 40 nm CMOS triple-push oscillator in this case, and exhibit not only ∼12.4 dB directive gain enhancement and 4.34° HPBW (Half Power Beam Width) for far field radiation but also an excellent near field focus characteristic with a 28.5 mm depth of field (DOF).