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3D Printed Fabry–Pérot Filters for Terahertz Spectral Range

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Abstract

3D printing is evolving into a standard tool for prototyping various optical components suitable for application in the terahertz range of the electromagnetic spectrum. This work takes the next step in this evolution by demonstrating the fabrication and subsequent evaluation of Fabry–Pérot interferometers (FPIs). Large optical area (centimetre scale) Fabry–Pérot transmission filters have been 3D printed with polylactic acid (PLA) using a commonly used low-cost 3D printer. The advantages of the proposed approach include low cost, rapid prototyping and repeatability. Terahertz transmission measurements for two demonstrated filter designs realised to target optimisation of either signal transmission or spectral filter performance have been performed using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) and demonstrate good agreement with the simulated response in the operating spectral band of 0.30–0.75 THz (wavelengths from 1000 down to 400 μm). The critical spectral characteristics assessed were the filter peak transmission magnitude, central wavelength and full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the transmission peak, as well as the free spectral range (FSR). The signal transmission levels were observed to reach beyond 90% for the first series of filters that targeted optimisation of this aspect; however, this was accompanied by diminished out-of-band rejection and broader transmission peaks in comparison to the second series of filters which targeted the overall performance. For the latter filter series, the resolution in terms of FWHM values of the transmission peaks was reduced to 40–50 GHz, with the out-of-band rejection approaching a ratio of 10:1. This level of spectral performance, along with the achieved signal peak transmission characteristics of 65–75%, provides adequate performance for many applications harnessing the terahertz spectral range.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the authors on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was performed in the Western Australian node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF), a company established under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy to provide nano and micro-fabrication facilities for Australian researchers. The authors would like to thank the Australian Research Council and the Western Australian Government’s Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation for supporting this work.

Funding

This work was supported in part by the Australian Research Council, the Australian National Fabrication Facility and the Western Australian Government’s Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia

    Praveen Kumar Revuri, K. K. M. B. Dilusha Silva, Lorenzo Faraone & Mariusz Martyniuk

  2. Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

    Konrad Walus

  3. Department of Physics, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia

    Vincent P. Wallace

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia

    Adrian Keating

  5. ARC Centre for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems, Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia

    Lorenzo Faraone & Mariusz Martyniuk

Authors
  1. Praveen Kumar Revuri
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Contributions

M. M. and K. W. conceptualised the devices. P. R and K.W. fabricated the devices. P.R. and V.W. characterised the devices. All authors analysed the characterisation data and device performance. P. R., D. S. and M. M. wrote the manuscript and prepared the figures. K. W., V. W., L F. and M. M. reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Mariusz Martyniuk.

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Revuri, P.K., Walus, K., Wallace, V.P. et al. 3D Printed Fabry–Pérot Filters for Terahertz Spectral Range. J Infrared Milli Terahz Waves 43, 942–956 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10762-022-00887-x

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