Synthesized All-Pass Waveguide for Ultrafast Electronics

Abstract

Ultrashort pulse transmission has been recognized as a primary problem that fundamentally hinders the development of ultrafast electronics beyond the current nanosecond timescale. This requires a transmission line or waveguide that exhibits an all-pass frequency behavior for the transmitted ultrashort pulse signals. However, this type of waveguiding structure has not yet been practically developed; groundbreaking innovations and advances in signal transmission technology are urgently required to address this scenario. Herein, we present a synthesized all-pass waveguide that demonstrates record guided-wave controlling capabilities, including eigenmode reshaping, polarization rotation, loss reduction, and dispersion improvement. We experimentally developed two waveguides for use in ultrabroad frequency ranges (direct current (DC)-to-millimeter-wave and DC-to-terahertz). Our results suggest that the waveguides can efficiently transmit picosecond electrical pulses while maintaining signal integrity. This waveguide technology is an important breakthrough in the evolution of ultrafast electronics, providing a path towards frequency-engineered ultrashort pulses for low-loss and low-dispersion transmissions.