Wireless audio and burst communication link with directly modulated THz photoconductive antenna

Abstract

We demonstrate transmission of audio and burst signals through a prototype THz analog communication link employing laser-gated low-temperature-grown GaAs dipole antenna as THz emitter and receiver. The transmission distance is about 100 cm. By using a direct voltage modulation format, we successfully demodulated a burst signal with a rising time of 41 micros. The corresponding modulating bandwidth achieved was 23 kHz in this first experiment. Noise analysis reveals a 10% power fluctuation in the received signal with on-off extinction ratio of greater than 1000. The transmission of a six-channel analog and burst audio signal with least distortion is also demonstrated. We further demonstrate the fidelity of the transmission of a melody through the THz link with and without any amplification.