Exploring Millimeter-Wave and Terahertz Circuits and Systems With a Novel Multiuser Measurement Facility: Multiuser Terahertz Measurement Facility (THz Lab)

A new multiuser terahertz (THz) measurement facility, or "THz Lab," located at the New York University (NYU) wireless research center, develops a next-generation laboratory to enable pioneering research at the upper reaches of the radio spectrum: the sub-THz (100-300 GHz) and THz (0.3-3 THz) frequency bands. The cellular telephone industry's recent realization of the viability of the millimeter wave (mm-wave) radio spectrum for 5G has created a need for the next-generation measurement platform that can promote foundational research for wireless communications, circuit design, antennas and propagation, and novel materials into the 6G era and beyond [1]. The THz Lab, funded by a US$3 million National Science Foundation (NSF): Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) grant, explores the spectrum frontier at frequencies from the mm-wave and into the THz bands, where material and propagation properties are not well known but which offer great promise for massively wideband channels and yet-to-be-determined capabilities of future cell phones, autonomous vehicles, and smart devices. Since the U.S. Federal Communications Commission authorized using sub-THz frequencies above 95 GHz for the first time in 2019 [2], other countries are also now opening these high-frequency bands. Notably, Ofcom in the United Kingdom and other European nations through the European Union's Horizon 2020 have begun exploring spectrum sharing and device innovations for applications at the THz frequencies [3], [4]. Similarly, spectrum regulators in Canada and Australia are actively exploring applications and use cases at sub-THz and THz frequencies [5], [6]. The costs and technical challenges to accurately design and repeatably measure devices and radio systems at these frequencies are tremendous. However, little is known about how to best design such systems, let alone characterize them and make them work reliably. The THz Lab enables fundamental explorations of circuits, antennas, radio propagation, and materials at the THz level for applications involving sensing and communications in emerging 6G wireless networks and beyond