Periodic Reporting for period 1 - TERACOMM (Terahertz graphene receiver for wireless communications)
Période du rapport: 2023-10-01 au 2025-03-31
Wireless connectivity has become indispensable for most daily activities. The fifth-generation (5G) broadband cellular network standard, along with its evolution known as “5G Advanced,” is currently being rolled out globally to support applications such as the Internet of Things (IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), and extended reality (XR). These technologies are anticipated to become the primary means of mobile access by 2027, as evidenced by the rapid growth in 5G adoption.
The sixth generation (6G) will build upon this technological momentum and is expected to bring about a fundamental transformation of communication infrastructure. It aims to deliver networks that seamlessly integrate communication, sensing, and computational functions, thereby bridging the physical, biological, and digital domains. Fully immersive XR and holographic telepresence, cooperative robots (cobots), and massive digital twins are just some of the demanding user cases that will pose several challenges to the development of 6G wireless networks for both short-range and long-range connectivity. In order to cope with the growing number of devices that blend the physical and the digital worlds, one can imagine that a reliable and fast wireless network access needs to be developed. The next generation of wireless devices is expected to provide peak data rates of up to 1 Tbps (10 times larger than those currently featured by 5G technology). As the next evolutionary step of an exponential technology, 6G, will have a considerable impact on green-house emissions. Network energy efficiency has to be increased by a factor of 100, while per-bit device energy consumption has to be reduced to 1 pJ/bit. The high-reliability requirement will also demand a 4 orders of magnitude decrease of the error probability in data transmissions.
The exponential growth of data traffic yields several highly challenging requirements for the development of next-generation wireless technologies: (1) peak data rates of up to 1 terabit per second (Tbps), (2) ultra-low power device consumption, and (3) enhanced reliability. To date, no technology fulfilling all the requirements has been developed.
The goal of Teracomm is to develop a graphene-based platform that facilitates the integration and miniaturization of these sub-THz receivers in portable or compact devices. The graphene operation at sub-THz carrier frequencies allows the achievement of larger bandwidths. Also, the small active area of the graphene receiver provides a substantial advantage in reducing the footprint considerably, and therefore allowing the production of arrays of these receivers. The direct detection scheme and the zero-bias operation reduce significantly the noise and power consumption required for this type of receiver and fulfill the above-mentioned requirements.
4 main objectives define Teracomm. The first one consists of defining the design of the graphene sub-THz receiver. This will be determined based on the simulations we perform. The second objective is fulfilled by fabricating the sub-THz receivers and characterizing them electrically and by Raman spectroscopy. The third objective comprises the frequency and time response of the graphene receivers, as well as their testing for data stream detection and bit-error rate. Finally, the 4th objective involves the business exploitation of the developed technology.
The sixth generation (6G) will build upon this technological momentum and is expected to bring about a fundamental transformation of communication infrastructure. It aims to deliver networks that seamlessly integrate communication, sensing, and computational functions, thereby bridging the physical, biological, and digital domains. Fully immersive XR and holographic telepresence, cooperative robots (cobots), and massive digital twins are just some of the demanding user cases that will pose several challenges to the development of 6G wireless networks for both short-range and long-range connectivity. In order to cope with the growing number of devices that blend the physical and the digital worlds, one can imagine that a reliable and fast wireless network access needs to be developed. The next generation of wireless devices is expected to provide peak data rates of up to 1 Tbps (10 times larger than those currently featured by 5G technology). As the next evolutionary step of an exponential technology, 6G, will have a considerable impact on green-house emissions. Network energy efficiency has to be increased by a factor of 100, while per-bit device energy consumption has to be reduced to 1 pJ/bit. The high-reliability requirement will also demand a 4 orders of magnitude decrease of the error probability in data transmissions.
The exponential growth of data traffic yields several highly challenging requirements for the development of next-generation wireless technologies: (1) peak data rates of up to 1 terabit per second (Tbps), (2) ultra-low power device consumption, and (3) enhanced reliability. To date, no technology fulfilling all the requirements has been developed.
The goal of Teracomm is to develop a graphene-based platform that facilitates the integration and miniaturization of these sub-THz receivers in portable or compact devices. The graphene operation at sub-THz carrier frequencies allows the achievement of larger bandwidths. Also, the small active area of the graphene receiver provides a substantial advantage in reducing the footprint considerably, and therefore allowing the production of arrays of these receivers. The direct detection scheme and the zero-bias operation reduce significantly the noise and power consumption required for this type of receiver and fulfill the above-mentioned requirements.
4 main objectives define Teracomm. The first one consists of defining the design of the graphene sub-THz receiver. This will be determined based on the simulations we perform. The second objective is fulfilled by fabricating the sub-THz receivers and characterizing them electrically and by Raman spectroscopy. The third objective comprises the frequency and time response of the graphene receivers, as well as their testing for data stream detection and bit-error rate. Finally, the 4th objective involves the business exploitation of the developed technology.
In Teracomm, we designed the sub-THz receivers based on graphene by performing optical, thermoelectric and radiofrequencies simulations. These guarantees that the sub-THz cavity was properly coupled optically to the graphene receiver and to show high responsivity. We successfully fabricated and measured 8 receivers based on scalable materials and with flakes. We also compare the performance of the devices depending on their characteristics. We achieve a maximum responsivity of ~0.2 A/W (30 V/W). We showed the spectral response of the receivers in the sub-THz range between 10 and 300 GHz and identified the role of each component of the sub-THz cavity. We showed the performance of the receivers under ambient conditions and in a N2 box environment. The experimental results are in very good agreement with our theoretical model, thus enabling the prediction of the performance of them for further improvements. We demonstrate a multigigabit/s data rate for OOK modulation with a low bit-error rate (~1e-5) for a distance between the transmitter and receiver of ~3 m. We showed data detection for amplitude and phase modulation. We show a 3 dB bandwidth of 2 GHz for the receivers containing the sub-THz cavity and 40 GHz setup-limited for the ones without it. We determined the responsivity-bandwidth trade off of this platform and showed potential solutions. We also developed an evaluation kit based on this graphene sub-THz receiver in order to comprise a portable and compact platform to be tested in industrially relevant environments and with potential industrial partners or end users
The developed sub-THz receivers present unique capabilities by showing them in one single platform, such as high-speed detection with high responsivity, multigigabit/s data rates with low bit-error rate, and a distance between the transmitter and receiver of ~3 m, compatibility with silicon technology, reusability and operation under ambient conditions, etc.
This performance shows remarkable advantages with respect to the commercially available sub-THz receivers, which highlight the potential of this platform. Further developments will consist of producing a compact and portable prototype to test in several relevant environments. Partnering with key players in the wireless communication field is crucial to ensure the development of this technology.
This performance shows remarkable advantages with respect to the commercially available sub-THz receivers, which highlight the potential of this platform. Further developments will consist of producing a compact and portable prototype to test in several relevant environments. Partnering with key players in the wireless communication field is crucial to ensure the development of this technology.