Terahertz band: Lighting up next-generation wireless communications

With the explosion of wireless data rates, the terahertz (THz) band (0.1–10 THz) is envisioned as a promising candidate to break the existing bandwidth bottleneck and satisfy the ever-increasing capacity demand. The THz wireless communications feature a number of attractive properties, such as potential terabit-per-second capacity and high energy efficiency. In this paper, an overview on the state-of-the-art THz communications is studied, with a special focus on key technologies of THz transceivers and THz communication systems. The recent progress on both electronic and photonic THz transmitters are presented, and then the THz receivers operating in direct- and heterodyne reception modes are individually surveyed. Based on the THz transceiver schemes, three kinds of THz wireless communication systems are reviewed, including solid-state electronic systems, photonics-assisted systems and all-photonics systems. The prospective key enabling technologies, corresponding challenges and research directions for lighting up high-speed THz communication systems are discussed as well.