Silicon based Metamaterials for Dielectric Waveguides in the THz Range

This contribution presents designs, simulations, and characterizing measurements of silicon based metamaterial structures. In order to realize a micromachined THz waveguide system on a silicon wafer, mechanical fixtures to hold and to manipulate the waveguide are needed. If the dielectric constant of these structures is comparable to the waveguide itself, the field confinement is significantly reduced. Therefore, the material is structured as a metasurface using feature sizes that are much smaller than the wavelength. Thus, reducing the effective dielectric constant, while keeping a high mechanical stability. In this contribution the effective dielectric constant of this metamaterial is analyzed at around 300 GHz based on full-wave simulations and also investigated regarding its anisotropic behavior. The simulations are complemented and validated by measurements.