Silicon Micromachined Metrology Components for 0.5-1.1 THz

We present the development and experimen-tal characterisation of silicon micromachined components for waveguide metrology from 0.5-1.1 THz. Silicon micromachining offers high precision and uniformity, while the mechanical properties of silicon allow for the creation of extremely thin layers. We harness these capabilities to create waveguide lines for the WM-380 (0.5-0.75 THz) and WM-250 (0.75-1.1 THz) bands in thicknesses as low as 70 µm, The development of such components enables new solutions in the field of THz metrology due to their high precision, repeatability and scaleable manu-facturing. The experimental performance of the components is first characterised using commerical vector network analyzer calibration standards. The micromachined components are then used to implement Through-Reflect-Line calibrations in both bands, which are used to error correct multiple devices. The micromachined lines offer return losses as high as 40 dB, while their expanded phase uncertainty is as low as 2°.