Low-loss planar components for THz wireless communications

Shifting the carrier frequency to the terahertz range is seen by many as a potential way to increase the bandwidth in wireless communications. However, losses in conventional dielectrics become important when increasing the frequency. When introducing low-RI, low-loss subwavelength inclusions in a solid material, we can reduce the overall losses, opening a way to create optical components even with lossy material. In this work, we present low-loss planar porous THz components. We design, fabricate and characterize planar lenses and orbital angular momentum phase plates.