Self-supporting polymer pipes for low loss single-mode THz transmission.

ABSTRACT

In this paper, a self-supporting polymer pipe is proposed and investigated for THz wave transmission. Utilizing fiber drawing technique for polymer fiber, self-supporting pipes with wall thickness of several tens micrometers can be fabricated using polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). The guiding mechanism and transmission characteristics of the self-supporting pipes are investigated theoretically, showing that it can support single-mode transmission at THz band. The self-supporting pipe samples with different structure parameters are fabricated and measured experimentally, showing that it can support single HE(11) mode transmission. Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that this self-supporting polymer pipe is a promising candidate for low loss THz fibers.