Numerical study of high impedance T-match antennas for terahertz photomixers

This paper outlines an efficient numerical method to design terahertz photomixers. The simulations are benchmarked using measured power levels from results published in the literature. Next, the method is applied to two new photomixer designs based on the high impedance T-match antenna with bias supply DC-blocking structures for either a uniplanar layout or a multilayer structure for improved device reliability. Manufacturability is favoured by avoiding the use of airbridges, substrate thinning or under-etching. The estimated output power of the improved design is 9.0 μW, which is an improvement of three times over the reference photomixer.