propagating THz signals in wires with low losses

[Jamie M]

Hi,

I was wondering about plasmonic THz and higher frequencies, when they
propagate in copper the losses are extremely high due to the high
accelerations of electrons radiating losses. I saw some new info on
using metamaterials to "reduce electrons mass to near zero" using
alternate thin layers of material with positive and negative
permittivity:

http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/news/...y-reduce-electrons-effective-mass-nearly-zero

I was wondering if this is a similar concept to a coax transmission
line for RF, in that it prevents losses/radiation until the antenna?
If a stripline transmission line is put on a PCB for THz
frequencies using the nanometer thick alternate layers from that paper
would that work to allow longer THz wires with low losses?

cheers,
Jamie

 

[whit3rd]

I was wondering about plasmonic THz and higher frequencies, when they
propagate in copper the losses are extremely high due to the high
accelerations of electrons radiating losses.

Wires with signals are actually carrying the energy in fields outside
the wire (in the insulator); high frequency losses have to
include that insulator, not just the conductor.

To get to terahertz, one uses a waveguide. The walls of
the waveguide just have to be reflectors, not perfect conductors
of electricity.