A Terahertz On-Chip Antenna for Intra-chip Wireless Communications

Fast development of multi-core processors relies on integrated data networks for cores to exchange data. With the number of cores ever increasing, the performance of these intra-chip networks becomes a bottleneck that limits the overall performance of a multi-core processor. Fortunately, the use of wireless interconnects can address this issue, especially the terahertz (THz) frequency band can significantly increase the data transmission rates among the cores. This paper presents the planar on-chip antenna (OCA) featuring the Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) and Metamaterials (MTM) technologies for intra-chip wireless interconnects. To increase the bandwidth and the effective area of the radiating surface, $2 \times 2$ circular patches are interconnected diagonally on the top layer with further plus-shaped etching. The proposed OCA consists of three layers, copper-polyimide-copper with an area of $400 \times 400 \mu m^{2}$. S-parameter, voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR), and radiation plots are simulated in ANSYS HFSS. Results show that the proposed OCA is promising for intra-chip wireless communications.