Design and Characterization of MSAP-Fabricated Sub-THz Frequency Selective Surface by Bench-Top Optoelectronic Measurement System

A low-cost and compact benchtop using the off-the-shelf optoelectronic (OE) measurement system is presented which is built to measure the performance of a 160 GHz frequency selective surface (FSS). The system uses an optical heterodyne source to excite wireless signals through the -D-band (110–170 GHz), and transmission magnitude is measured using a frequency-extended power spectrum analyzer (PSA). The system is shown to perform well towards characterizing an FSS structure fabricated using a modified semi-additive process (MSAP), with the magnitude shown to agree well with both full-wave simulation of the array and measurements taken using a conventional microwave measurement setup. While the noise floor of the measurement system limits the ability to characterize FSS attenuation below –16 dB, the reduction in transmitted power at the design frequency is clearly captured. The OE measurement system represents an approach to analyzing sub-THz frequency wireless devices that will play an essential role in the development and adoption of next-generation wireless communications.