Multiphysics THz Antenna Simulations

The electrical response of an antenna-coupled nanothermocouple depends on how well the antenna converts incident optical energy to heat, and how this heat is converted to electrical signals by the nanothermocouples. In this paper, we study by COMSOL simulations the heat dissipated in dipole antennas operating at 600 GHz to maximize the temperature at the center of the antenna where the nanothermocouples are attached. We study antennas constructed from all-Au, all-Ni, and Au with Ni center segment. We also study the heat loss into the Si substrate, and use various thicknesses of SiO2 for thermal insulation from the substrate. We also discuss our simulation setup and our symmetric, geometry-independent mesh structure to avoid a variety of simulation errors and artifacts.