High-Efficiency Wideband 3-D On-Chip Antennas for Subterahertz Applications Demonstrated at 200 GHz

This work presents an efficientmethod for realizing a laterally radiating 3-D monopole antenna for millimeter-wave and terahertz applications. The vertical antenna rod is formed with a standard 17-mu m aluminum wire on a programmable semiautomatic ultrasonic wedge bonder, which allows for a good reproducibility. The key features are a high gain of up to 4.9 dBi, a 360 degrees azimuthal coverage, an estimated radiation efficiency of around 90%, a uniform behavior over a wide frequency range of 60 GHz, and a low chip area requirement of 0.06 mm(2). The on-chip structure offers the unique ability to be alternatively utilized for direct characterization with standard measurement probes. In addition, an analytic model is derived and compared to electromagnetic field simulations. To verify the radiation performance, a physical transmission link is demonstrated for distances between 5 and 15 mm and for a frequency ranging from 140 to 220 GHz. The obtained results agree well with the theoretical and simulated estimations.