Transmission and imaging characteristics of flexible gradually tapered waveguide at 0.3 THz

Flexible gradually tapered metal waveguides (GTMWs) are fabricated by an inner plating silver film in a polycarbonate (PC) capillary for the transmission and imaging at 0.3 THz. It was demonstrated theoretically and experimentally that GTMWs have lower transmission losses and smaller additional losses of bending, comparing with thin constant bore metal waveguides (CBMWs). Measured losses of 1.95 dB and 2.45 dB were obtained for a 1 m long GTMW with bore size varying from 2.6 mm to 1.6 mm under straight and one circle bending configuration. Measured losses were 4.48 dB/m and 7.78 dB/m for 1.6 mm bore CBMW under the same straight and bend configurations. Owing to higher energy concentration at the output, a larger penetration ability of output wave can be achieved by GTMW, which is beneficial for imaging application. A scanning imaging system was established using fabricated waveguides as the probes. Measured results show that the air slits of the order of wavelength can be clearly distinguished. An imaging system with a GTMW probe also has better performances due to lower bending loss and improved coupling efficiency. (C) 2021 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement