MIT Chip Breakthrough Enables High-Power Terahertz Generation Without Bulky Lenses

MIT researchers have developed a breakthrough chip-based technology that significantly enhances the generation of terahertz waves, used in applications like data transmission, medical imaging, and radar. The new technology eliminates the employment of large silicon lenses, which have been employed traditionally to enhance the power of terahertz waves. By employing a thin, patterned strip of material applied to the chip's back and Intel's high-power transistors, the scientists were able to use a much more efficient, scalable method of producing terahertz waves.

Terahertz waves occupy a position between radio waves and infrared light on the electromagnetic scale. With a greater frequency, they are more dense with information than radio waves, and with the ability to penetrate material unobtrusively, the potential is vast for a large range of technologies. But it has been difficult to produce them with enough power for useful purposes using bulky and expensive equipment such as silicon lenses.

MIT's team addressed this issue by minimizing the signal loss at the silicon-air interface, which is a problem since silicon and air have dissimilar dielectric constants. By bonding a dielectric with a compatible constant to the back of the chip, nearly all terahertz waves get through intact without being reflected off.

In addition to that, the researchers also employed Intel's high-end transistors which can be powered at higher frequencies and voltages compared to standard transistors. Coupling that high-end hardware with the new dielectric sheet enabled the chip to emit much more energetic terahertz waves compared to any other chip. The chip's output was 11.1 decibel-milliwatts-more compared to any other output ever recorded for this type of chip.

Perhaps the biggest challenge to creating this chip was scaling it for production and managing the intense power and heat that come with terahertz wave generation. The solution found by the researchers has the potential to integrate terahertz technology into small devices, allowing it to be used in handheld security scanners, environmental monitoring, and even wireless communication.

This innovation promises mass production of low-cost, high-speed terahertz generators to be deployed widely from security to health care and telecommunications usage. The researchers have already installed scaling technology to produce phased arrays of such chips to steer and concentrate terahertz beams for even more extreme applications.

Source: MIT News, February 20, 2025.