arXiv · 2603.24966
Near-Field Coupling of Polypropylene Dielectric Waveguide Routed Near PCB Board at Terahertz Frequencies
Abstract
The growing demand for high-capacity, low-loss short-reach links in highly integrated electronic systems makes it necessary to understand how terahertz (THz) dielectric waveguides behave in realistic PCB-level packaging environments. In this article, we investigate the channel transmission of a 3D-printed polypropylene dielectric waveguide placed near representative PCB substrates. Continuous-wave THz measurements are carried out for bare, fully copper-clad, and periodic copper-trTerahertz (THz) dielectric waveguides are promising physical channels for short-reach interconnects, but their air-clad guided fields may interact with nearby printed-circuit-board (PCB) structures in compact packages. In this work, we experimentally and numerically investigate PCB-proximity-induced excess transmission loss in 3D-printed polypropylene rectangular dielectric waveguides over 220-325 GHz. Continuous-wave transmission measurements are performed for bare FR4, continuous waveguide-facing copper, and periodic copper-trace PCB configurations under controlled clearance and alignment conditions. The results show that direct contact with bare FR4 can induce a frequency-selective high-loss band, which is attributed to phase-matched leakage from the guided waveguide mode into a substrate-supported leaky branch. This finding highlights PCB proximity as a critical layout factor and provides practical guidance for clearance control and metallization design in compact THz dielectric-waveguide packages.ace PCBs with different waveguide-PCB separations, while terahertz time-domain spectroscopy is used to characterize the dielectric properties of the substrate materials.
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Wenbo Liu, Jiabiao Zhao, Kefeng Huang, Peian Li, Boquan Xu, Yang Cao, Weidong Hu, Jianjun Ma. 2026-03-26. Near-Field Coupling of Polypropylene Dielectric Waveguide Routed Near PCB Board at Terahertz Frequencies. https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.24966
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