KR101984118B1 - Terahertz wave hand-held module and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a terahertz wave hand-held module and a manufacturing method thereof. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the terahertz wave hand-held module comprises: a photoconductive antenna having an active zone for generating a terahertz wave; a silicon lens which focuses on the terahertz wave generated by the photoconductive antenna; an alignment member which includes: a first penetrating hole aligned on a side of the active zone of the photoconductive antenna, and a plurality of second penetrating holes aligned on a side of an electrode of the photoconductive antenna, and which is placed on the photoconductive antenna; an optical fiber supported by the first penetrating hole of the align member, at least a part of which passes through the first penetrating hole and protrudes towards a side of the active zone of the photoconductive antenna; and a signal line which passes through the second penetrating holes of the alignment member to be electrically connected to an electrode of the photoconductive antenna. The present invention aims to reduce the steps of manufacturing a terahertz hand-held apparatus by simplifying the alignment of a laser beam and an antenna through an optical fiber using an optically transparent apparatus, and making it easier to engage the optical fiber with a terahertz wave signal line, and to reduce the time and effort for manufacturing the apparatus.

Description

Terahertz wave handheld module and method of manufacturing same [0001]

The present invention relates to a terahertz wave handheld module and a method of manufacturing the same.

Terahertz electromagnetic waves (hereinafter also referred to as 'terafar' or 'trehalz waves') are electromagnetic waves that exist between microwaves and infrared rays in an electromagnetic wave spectrum, except for polar molecules and metals such as water Most of them are permeable.

Terafar is transmitted through different materials and is accompanied by signal amplitude and phase change. By analyzing this, it is possible to calculate the intrinsic constants of the material, ie, refractive index and absorption rate. . For example, it is applied to various fields such as application of security equipment to search for distinction of drugs that are not distinguished by eyes or detection of possession of firearms, measurement of uniformity of production of drugs, and diagnosis of cancer.

However, the conventional terahar generating and detecting apparatus has a problem that the spatial size of the apparatus is large (bulky) and limited to equipment for outdoor and mobile measurement. In order to solve this problem, a terahertz hand-held device capable of measuring and moving the hand-held optical fiber by attempting miniaturization of the terahar generating apparatus and detecting apparatus has been developed and manufactured.

The manufacturing method of the terahertz handheld device using optical fiber is disclosed through several papers and patents.

1 is a view for explaining a manufacturing process of a conventional THz handheld module.

Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional method includes the steps of: forming a photoconductive antenna chip 2 having a photoconductive antenna for generating a terah wave integrally formed thereon, a silicon lens 1 for emitting terah waves into the air, And the optical fiber module 3 including the ferrule 5 fixed to the optical fiber are required to be aligned with high accuracy in order to precisely align the components and the complicated steps and time. The optical fiber module 3 is fixed to the optically conductive antenna chip 2 through the epoxy 6 on the ferrule 5 side.

In particular, a terahertz hand-held device utilizes a miniaturized photoconductive antenna chip 2 and a silicon lens 1. To produce a successful terahertz hand-held device, a terahertz wave is typically checked and alignment of each device is performed do. Because of this, epoxy work is required to maintain a high-precision alignment state at each step, so it takes a considerable time to proceed with each step and causes interference of each component element due to a miniaturized device.

For example, there is spatial interference between the metal wires 7 and the silver epoxies and the optical fiber ferrules attached to measure teraflop signals. The production of a terahertz handheld device with a spatial interference with the optical fiber ferrule (5) to align the laser beam to the photoconductive antenna, even if the amount of silver epoxy used to connect the metal wire (7) It becomes difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to simplify the alignment of a laser beam and an antenna through an optical fiber by using an optically transparent device and to easily combine an optical fiber and a terahar signal line to produce a terahertz hand- To reduce manufacturing time and effort.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a photoconductive antenna having an active region for generating a terahertz wave; A silicon lens for focusing the terahertz wave generated from the photoconductive antenna; An alignment member arranged on the photoconductive antenna, the alignment member having first through holes aligned on the active region side of the photoconductive antenna and a plurality of second through holes aligned on the electrode side of the photoconductive antenna; An optical fiber supported on the first through-hole of the alignment member, at least a portion of which passes through the first through-hole and is projected toward the active region side of the photoconductive antenna; And a signal line electrically connected to the electrode of the photoconductive antenna through the second through-hole of the alignment member.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a terahertz wave handheld module, comprising: aligning a photoconductive antenna on a silicon lens; Aligning the center of the active area of the light-conducting antenna with the first through-hole of the alignment member; Fixing the optical fiber to the first through hole; And electrically connecting the signal line to the electrode of the photoconductive antenna through the second through-hole. The present invention also provides a method of manufacturing a terahertz wave hand-held module.

Using the method and apparatus for shrinking fabrication steps for mass production of a terahertz handheld module according to the present invention makes it very easy to align the laser beam with the photoconductive antenna and the fabrication steps are reduced, Which can lead to a large commercial gain in the mass production of the terahertz handheld module.

1 is a view for explaining a manufacturing process of a conventional THz handheld module.
2 is a perspective view illustrating a terahertz wave handheld module in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a perspective view showing the alignment member shown in Fig.
4 is a front view showing a silicon lens and a photoconductive antenna.
5 is a front view showing a light-transmitting antenna and an alignment member.
Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating a terahertz wave handheld module in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention
7 is a view for explaining a method of manufacturing a terahertz wave handheld module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a terahertz waveband head module according to an embodiment of the present invention and a method of manufacturing the same will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In addition, the same or corresponding reference numerals are given to the same or corresponding reference numerals regardless of the reference numerals, and redundant description thereof will be omitted. For convenience of explanation, the size and shape of each constituent member shown in the drawings are exaggerated or reduced .

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a terahertz wave handheld module according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the alignment member shown in FIG. 2. FIG.

4 is a front view showing a silicon lens and a photoconductive antenna, Fig. 5 is a front view showing a photoconductive antenna and an alignment member, and Fig. 6 is a drawing showing a terahertz wave handheld module related to an embodiment of the present invention to be

In this document, the terahertz wave handheld module 100 is a terahertz wave handheld transceiver module, which may be used as a terahertz wave handheld transmitter module or a terahertz wave handheld receiver module.

The terahertz wave handheld module 100 includes a photoconductive antenna chip 110, a silicon lens 101, an alignment member 120, an optical fiber 130, and a signal line 140.

The photoconductive antenna chip 110 has a photoconductive antenna 111 having an active region for terahertz wave generation. The photoconductive antenna 111 is a photoconductive thin film grown on a semi-insulating gallium arsenide (GaAs) or low temperature grown gallium arsenide substrate, including a metal parallel transmission line of approximately "H" shaped pattern. Further, the central region of the " H " -shaped pattern of the photoconductive antenna 111 constitutes the active region 112 serving as a dipole antenna. It is needless to say that the photoconductive antenna 111 may have various patterns such as a bow-tie shape, a spiral shape, or a shape with a long transmission line, in addition to the above-described " H "

In addition, the edges of the " H " -shaped pattern of the photoconductive antenna 111 constitute the electrode 113 for electrical connection of the metal signal line 140 to be attached for measuring the terahertz wave signal.

In addition, the terahertz wave handheld module 100 includes a silicon lens 101 for focusing the terahertz wave generated from the photoconductive antenna 111. The silicon lens 101 has a hemispherical shape and the photoconductive antenna chip 110 is aligned with the center of the active region 112 of the photoconductive antenna 111 and the center of the silicon lens 101.

The terahertz wave handheld module 100 includes a first through hole 121 aligned on the active region 112 side of the photoconductive antenna 111 and a second through hole 121 arranged on the side of the electrode 113 of the photoconductive antenna 111 And an alignment member 120 having a plurality of second through holes 122 arranged on the photoconductive antenna 111.

When the center of the first through hole 121 and the center of the active region 112 are aligned with each other, the center of the second through hole 122 is aligned with the center of the light transmitting antenna 111 Electrodes 113 are formed to overlap with each other. In this document, aligning the alignment member 120 or the first through hole 121 with the photoconductive antenna chip 110 means that the center of the first through hole 121 is aligned with the center of the active area 112 Which means that the alignment member 120 is placed on the photoconductive antenna chip 110.

When the alignment member 120 is disposed on the photoconductive antenna chip 110 and the center of the first through hole 121 and the center of the active region 112 are aligned to be aligned with each other, The electrode 113 is exposed to the outside through the second through hole 122 and the signal line 140 can enter the electrode 113 through the second through hole 122 and the second through hole 122 to secure the signal line 140 to the electrode 113. At this time, the epoxy also includes a conductive epoxy.

The alignment member 120 may be formed of a transparent material and may be formed of an optically transparent material such as quartz, sapphire, glass, or transparent plastic (polyethylene) .

The first through hole 121 may have a diameter of 125 to 150 탆, which is a size that can correspond to the diameter of the optical fiber 130. The second through hole 122 may have a size such that the metal line 140 is inserted and the epoxy 145 can be operated and the size of the second through hole 122 is larger than the size of the first through hole 121 ). ≪ / RTI > The plurality of second through holes 122 may be arranged at predetermined intervals along the circumferential direction with respect to the first through holes 121. The positions of the second through holes 122 may be the same as the above- Quot; H " -shaped pattern.

For example, referring to FIG. 3, the alignment member 120 may have a predetermined width w, height h, and thickness t. At this time, the width and height of the alignment member 120 may vary according to the shape of the antenna. For example, for small antennas, the width and height may be 2 mm x 2 mm, for medium size antennas the width and height may be 5 mm x 5 mm, and for large antennas, the width and height may be 10 mm x 10 mm. Further, the thickness of the alignment member 120 may be 300 탆 to 2 mm.

The alignment member 120 may be fixed to the photoconductive antenna chip 110 and the silicon lens 101 when alignment of the first through hole 121 and the active region 112 is completed. Can be fixed through epoxy work.

In addition, the alignment member 120 may be spaced apart from the photoconductive antenna chip 110 by a predetermined distance. The first through hole 121 and the active area 112 of the alignment member 120 can be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance (for example, 200 占 퐉 or less). At this time, at least a part of the optical fiber 130 passes through the first through hole 121 and protrudes toward the active region 112 side. In addition, the alignment member 120 may be disposed in contact with the photoconductive antenna chip 110 without a gap. At this time, the optical fiber 130 may be in contact with the active region 112.

The terahertz wave handheld module 100 is supported in the first through hole 121 of the alignment member 120 and at least a portion of the through hole 121 passes through the first through hole 121, And an optical fiber 130 protruding from the active region 112 side.

The optical fiber 130 performs a function of inducing ultra-fast laser pulses. The optical fiber 130 is supported by the first through hole 121 of the alignment member 120 so that the ferrule 5 is not provided unlike the conventional optical fiber module 3 shown in FIG. The optical fiber 130 is in the form of a bare fiber. The optical fiber 130 is fixed to the first through hole 121 of the alignment member 120 and the outer circumference of the optical fiber 130 is fixed to the inner circumferential surface of the first through hole 121 through the epoxy, .

The first through hole 121 of the alignment member 120 is previously aligned with the active area 112 of the photoconductive antenna 111 when the alignment member 120 is mounted on the first through hole 121, The alignment of the optical fiber 130 and the active area 112 of the photoconductive antenna 111 is automatically performed so that the alignment process of the optical fiber 130 and the active area 112 of the photoconductive antenna 111 Is omitted.

The terahertz wave handheld module 100 also includes a signal line 140 electrically connected to the electrode 113 of the photoconductive antenna 111 through the second through hole 122 of the alignment member 120 do. The signal lines 140 are provided in pairs to measure the terahar signal. The signal line 140 can be fixed to the electrode 113 via the epoxy 145 in a state in which the second through hole 122 and the electrode 113 of the photoconductive antenna 111 are aligned.

Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing a terahertz wave hand-held module having the above-described structure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

7 is a view for explaining a method of manufacturing a terahertz wave handheld module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A method of manufacturing a terahertz wave handheld module (hereinafter also referred to as a "manufacturing method") includes aligning a photoconductive antenna 111 on a silicon lens 101. The manufacturing method also includes aligning the center of the active area 112 of the photoconductive antenna 111 with the first through hole 121 of the alignment member 120. The manufacturing method includes the steps of fixing the optical fiber 130 to the first through hole 121 and electrically connecting the signal line 140 to the electrode 113 of the light conductive antenna 111 through the second through hole 122 As shown in FIG.

The step of aligning the center of the first through hole 121 of the alignment member 120 and the active region 112 of the photoconductive antenna 111 may be performed through an optical microscope.

Referring to FIG. 7, a fabrication process shrinking method for mass production of a terahertz handheld module 100 according to the present invention includes an optically transparent alignment member 120.

The alignment member 120 has a first through hole 121 of a predetermined size (125 to 150 um) for directly fixing a bare optical fiber without an optical fiber ferrule, A plurality of second through holes 122 capable of coupling a metal line 140 capable of measuring or applying a bias voltage.

The size and number of the first and second through holes 121 and 122 may vary depending on the type of the photoconductive antenna 111 to be coupled.

Alignment of the photoconductive antenna chip 110 and the silicon lens 101 for generating terra waves can be performed by a conventional method.

The terra wave generation position (active region) of the photoconductive antenna chip 110 coupled with the silicon lens 101 and the alignment member 120 can be easily aligned through an optical microscope. As described above, when the terra wave generation position (active region) of the photoconductive antenna 111 and the alignment of the first through hole 121 to be coupled with the optical fiber 140 are completed, the electrode 113 of the photoconductive antenna And the second through hole 122 of the alignment member are aligned with each other.

The position and the number of the second through holes 122 may be changed depending on the shape of the photoconductive antenna 111. The alignment member 120 is aligned with the photoconductive antenna 111 through an optical microscope and fixed using epoxy. However, it is a matter of course that a method other than the epoxy may be used as the fixing method.

After the alignment member 120 is completely fixed, the optical fiber 140 is inserted into the first through-hole 121 of the alignment member 120 and is fixed with epoxy, and the second through- The metal line 140 is inserted into the hole 122, and the silver epoxy 145 can maintain the conductivity and can be fixed.

The laser beam can be easily irradiated to the terra wave generation position (active region) of the photoconductive antenna 111 through the optical fiber 140 fixed to the first through hole 121 and this state can be visually clearly shown in FIG. 6 .

Using the terahertz handheld module 100 and the method of manufacturing the same according to the present invention, the conventional five-stage terahertz handheld fabrication process (see FIG. 1) can be reduced to three stages as shown in FIG. 7 have. This greatly reduces the alignment technique and steps of the difficulty level and significantly reduces the epoxy fixing time, making it easy to manufacture the terahertz handheld module and shortening the manufacturing time, which can be a great advantage in mass production.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, And additions should be considered as falling within the scope of the following claims.

100: terahertz wave handheld module
101: Silicone lens
110: Photoelectric antenna chip
120: Alignment member
130: Optical fiber
140: signal line

Claims (9)

A photoconductive antenna having an active region for generating a terahertz wave;
A silicon lens for focusing the terahertz wave generated from the photoconductive antenna;
An alignment member arranged on the photoconductive antenna, the alignment member having first through holes aligned on the active region side of the photoconductive antenna and a plurality of second through holes aligned on the electrode side of the photoconductive antenna;
An optical fiber supported on the first through-hole of the alignment member, at least a portion of which passes through the first through-hole and is projected toward the active region side of the photoconductive antenna; And
And a signal line electrically connected to the electrode of the photoconductive antenna through the second through hole of the alignment member,
Wherein the alignment member is provided so that the center of the second through hole overlaps the electrode of the photoconductive antenna when the center of the first through hole coincides with the center of the active region. delete The method according to claim 1,
A terahertz wave handheld module in which the alignment member is formed of a transparent material. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the first through hole has a diameter of 125 to 150 mu m. The method according to claim 1,
A terahertz wave handheld module secured to the first through hole of the optical fiber. The method according to claim 1,
The signal line is fixed to the electrode through the epoxy, with the electrodes of the second through hole and the photoconductive antenna aligned. The method according to claim 1,
And the size of the second through hole is larger than the size of the first through hole. A method of manufacturing a terahertz wave handheld module according to claim 1,
Aligning the photoconductive antenna on the silicon lens;
Aligning the center of the active area of the light-conducting antenna with the first through-hole of the alignment member;
Fixing the optical fiber to the first through hole; And
And electrically connecting the signal line to the electrode of the photoconductive antenna through the second through hole. ≪ RTI ID = 0.0 > 21. < / RTI > 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein aligning the center of the active area of the photoconductive antenna with the first through-hole of the alignment member is through an optical microscope.

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