Silicon Micromachined Waveguide Circuit for a 2 THz Schottky Receiver: Progress and Challenges

Space instruments that operate in the THz range can enable unique measurements for a better understanding of the chemical and physical processes taking place in our Universe. One such application of this technology is a compact 2.06 THz receiver that can measure the ionized oxygen line to determine wind velocity in Earth's upper atmosphere. Metal machined waveguide circuits have long been utilized to build and demonstrate functional receivers in the submillimeter-wave range. However, as the operational frequency is increased, extremely challenging requirements are placed on metal machining in terms of the required precision, surface roughness, and alignment tolerance. This work describes the design and implementation of the first-of-its-kind, vertically-integrated, 2-THz Schottky diode mixer using precise silicon micromachine technology. A traditional e-plane split waveguide package is re-designed to utilize the three-dimensional (3-D) capability of stacking silicon micromachined parts. The silicon microfabrication process has been optimized to produce smooth and precise features for packaging a 2 THz subharmonic GaAs Schottky diode mixer, providing surface roughness better than 1-micron rms with less than 5% variation on critical dimensions. The subharmonic mixer and a fully solid-state local oscillator (LO) chain is currently being implemented to validate silicon micromachining for THz packaging. The impact of micromachining variation on mixer performance is explored through simulations over a range of dimensions on the most sensitive regions of the Si module.