Millimeter and sub-millimeter wave detection

An antenna assembly comprising an antenna portion and an electrooptic waveguide portion, wherein:

• the antenna portion comprises at least one tapered slot antenna;
• the waveguide portion comprises at least one electrooptic waveguide;
• the electrooptic waveguide extends along at least a portion of an optical path between an optical input and an optical output of the antenna assembly;
• the electrooptic waveguide comprises a waveguide core in an active region of the antenna assembly;
• the electrooptic waveguide at least partially comprises a velocity matching electrooptic polymer in the active region of the antenna assembly;
• a velocity νe of a millimeter or sub-millimeter wave signal traveling along the tapered slot antenna in the active region is at least partially a function of the dielectric constant of the electrooptic polymer;
• a velocity νO of an optical signal propagating along the waveguide in the active region is at least partially a function of the index of refraction of the electrooptic polymer;
• the tapered slot antenna comprises first and second electrically conductive elements arranged to define a radiating slot of the antenna;
• the first electrically conductive element is arranged in a plane above the electrooptic waveguide;
• and
• the second electrically conductive element is arranged in a plane below the electrooptic waveguide.

An antenna assembly comprising an antenna portion, a waveguide portion, and a frequency dependent filter, wherein:

• the antenna portion comprises at least one tapered slot antenna;
• the waveguide portion extends along at least a portion of an optical path between an optical input and an optical output of the antenna assembly;
• the waveguide portion comprises a waveguide core in an active region of the antenna assembly;
• the tapered slot antenna and the electrooptic waveguide are configured such that the millimeter or sub-millimeter wave signal traveling along the tapered slot antenna is imparted on the optical signal as frequency sidebands of an optical carrier frequency;
• and
• the frequency-dependent filter comprises a plurality of filter output ports and is configured to discriminate the frequency sidebands from the carrier frequency band in an optical signal propagating along the waveguide portion, downstream of the active region such that frequency sidebands having wavelengths that are shorter and longer than a wavelength of said carrier band can be recombined at the optical output of the antenna assembly.

An antenna assembly comprising a plurality of tapered slot antennae and a plurality of waveguide cores, wherein:

• each of the waveguide cores extends from an optical input portion to an optical output portion along an optical path;
• at least a portion of the optical path between the optical input portion and the optical output portion of each waveguide core is substantially parallel to a slotline of a corresponding tapered slot antenna in the active region of the tapered slot antenna;
• the tapered slot antennae are arranged in a one or two-dimensional, focal plane array such that each of the tapered slot antennae defines an antenna pixel within said focal plane array;
• and
• the tapered slot antennae are configured such that each of said tapered slot antennae receives a distinct pixel portion of a millimeter or sub-millimeter wave signal incident on said focal plane array.

A method of fabricating an antenna assembly comprising an antenna portion and an electrooptic waveguide portion, wherein:

• the antenna portion is provided with at least one tapered slot antenna;
• the waveguide portion is provided with at least one electrooptic waveguide;
• the electrooptic waveguide is configured to extend along at least a portion of an optical path between an optical input and an optical output of the antenna assembly;
• the electrooptic waveguide is provided with a waveguide core extending substantially parallel to a slotline of the tapered slot antenna in an active region of the antenna assembly;
• the electrooptic waveguide at least partially comprises a velocity matching electrooptic polymer in the active region of the antenna assembly such that a velocity νe of a millimeter or sub-millimeter wave signal traveling along the tapered slot antenna in the active region is at least partially a function of the dielectric constant of the velocity matching electrooptic polymer and a
• velocity νO of an optical signal propagating along the waveguide in the active region is at least partially a function of the index of refraction of the velocity matching electrooptic polymer;
• and
• the effective permittivity ∈eff of the active region and the effective index of refraction ηeff of the active region are established such that νe and νO satisfy the following relation:
• 
• v
• e
• -
• v
• O
• 
• v
• O
• ≤
• 20
• ⁢
• ⁢
• %
• .