An international research team from Brown University and the Institut d’Electronique de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie (IEMN), CNRS/University of Lille, in France, has reported the first transmission of two real-time video signals through a terahertz multiplexer at an aggregate data rate of 50 Gbps.
The breakthrough, which was reported in the journal Nature Communications, combined radio transmission techniques with photonic-based THz circuits to achieve high-data rates. Tektronix played a key role in the demonstration, supplying its DPO70000SX 70 GHz Oscilloscope and its AWG70000 arbitrary waveform generators (AWGs).
The researchers used a waveguide system involving two metal plates in parallel to encode two high-definition television broadcasts onto terahertz waves of two different frequencies: 264.7 GHz and 322.5 GHz. QPSK modulation was used.
“The bridging of fiber optics and radio technologies using photonic-based THz circuits to achieve high-data rates is an area of continuous innovation and this is another example of how test and measurement enables innovation. Advanced test tools are needed today to generate and characterize signals at 100G, 400G and beyond and Tektronix offers a wide portfolio of optical communication test solutions, including those used on this ground-breaking research effort,” stated Dean Miles, market development manager in Europe, Middle East and Africa for Tektronix.
