A Novel Millimeter Wave Receiver Enhanced by a Metallic Dipole Antenna and an Electro-Optic Polymer Waveguide Ring Resonator

Abstract

The ever-demanding requirement for higher data transmission rate has pushed the carrier frequency in wireless communications from centimeter to millimeter waves (MMW) or even terahertz band. Hybrid integration between the wireless and fiber-optic systems can then help realize a seamless signal transition between the access and backbone networks. In this work, we propose a novel MMW receiver with a simple structure consisting of an electro-optic polymer racetrack waveguide ring resonator (WRR) and a metal dipole antenna. Due to Pockels effect within the polymer waveguide, the presence of the MMW electric field can introduce minor refractive index changes in the waveguide, which can affect light phase and the transmission through the WRR. This effect can be employed to effectively detect the presence of MMW based on the optical method. The phase changes can be highly improved by the dipole antenna resonating at the MMW frequency in order to achieve an enhanced detection of the MMWs. As a result, a low-cost, compact and reliable MMW receiver can be realized, which provides an effective functional interface between MMW and optical fiber-optic systems.