Terahertz Components by Additive Manufacturing: Material and Fabrication Characterizations Realized Through Bragg Structures

This work explores Bragg structures and superstructures for the terahertz regime that are 3-D printed with two filament materials, i.e., high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) and cyclic olefin copolymer (COC). We show underlying frequency responses that come about due to the material absorption and chosen 3-D printing resolution. A terahertz time-domain spectroscopy analysis shows the favorable low absorption coefficient of COC filament material compared to that of HIPS filament material. Through a demonstration of terahertz Bragg superstructures for both HIPS and COC filament material, we show the contrast in performance and mitigation of undesired absorption for a terahertz photonic element made from COC filament material. The experimental results show agreement with a finite-difference time-domain simulation of the terahertz Bragg superstructures. Through a demonstration of terahertz Bragg structures for both HIPS and COC filament material, we show the effect of printing resolution (over 50–400 μm range) of the terahertz spectral response. Terahertz Bragg structures and superstructures made from COC filament material show great promise for rapid prototyping of terahertz photonic elements.