In the recently launched joint project T-KOS of the Research Fab Microelectronics Germany, terahertz technology is to be developed synergistically for the first time in the fields of communication and sensor technology for industry.
Innovative system solutions in both areas can make a decisive contribution to the successful implementation of future topics such as digitalization, Industry 4.0 and resource efficiency, thus strengthening Germany as a business location in the long term.
In the digitalized, high-tech living and working world, the availability of communication and data connections is a basic requirement. Due to the increasing mobility of users, the flexible use of broadband multimedia content (e.g. entertainment, medicine, logistics) and future technologies such as the Internet of Things or autonomous driving, both the volume of data in mobile networks and the demands on the communication networks themselves are growing. One promising option for increasing data capacity and usable bandwidth is the additional use of terahertz technology. This forms the basis for innovation not only in the field of radio systems, but also in the field of non-destructive testing (NDT). Terahertz waves can penetrate most electrically non-conductive materials, such as ceramics or plastics, in the same way as ultrasound and X-rays, but work without a coupling medium and require neither complex mechanical guidance nor radiation protection measures as, unlike X-rays, they are harmless to the human body.
Although terahertz radiation is predestined for a wide range of applications, for example in security technology, quality assurance or material testing, its industrial introduction has so far failed due to the lack of availability of inexpensive, fast and high-resolution systems with optimized, AI-based image recognition algorithms. This is where the T-KOS project, initiated by the Research Fab Microelectronics Germany (FMD) and funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research with €10 million, comes in.
Using synergies to enable innovation
In the T-KOS joint project launched on May 1, 2021, a total of nine FMD cooperation partners are working together with the Fraunhofer ITWM to synergistically develop terahertz technology for wireless radio transmission, non-destructive testing technology, spectroscopy and non-contact inline measurement technology. To this end, the technological expertise for communication and sensor technology distributed within the FMD will be brought together and expanded with know-how in the field of signal processing in order to be able to offer industrial customers innovative system solutions. During the one-year project period, various demonstrators will be developed that address the future fields of high-frequency electronics, terahertz photonics and wireless, high-bit-rate communication.
Dr. Dirk Nüßler, project manager and deputy director of Fraunhofer FHR, explains: "The overarching project goals are to establish a German value chain for terahertz wireless links, e.g. for high-bit-rate communication in industrial production, inline monitoring of production processes with AI-based, real-time imaging processing for resource-efficient production and the first industrial-grade terahertz communication and sensor technology by combining scalable electronic and photonic concepts."
In order to achieve these project goals, the project is organized along three parallel development strands that are networked with each other at key points. "For the development strands terahertz photonics, terahertz line scan camera and terahertz communication, various demonstrators can be realized within the comparatively short project duration of 12 months that go far beyond the current state of the art," explains Prof. Björn Globisch, group leader at Fraunhofer HHI and professor of terahertz sensor technology at the Technical University of Berlin.
Dr. Andreas Grimm, Technology Park Manager for Compound Semiconductors at FMD, concludes: "The existing cooperation within FMD has been the basis for the project development, so we are delighted that the BMBF funding will give us the opportunity to leverage the synergies of terahertz technology for the first time and to make an offer to industry for various applications."
The nine cooperation partners of FMD, Fraunhofer ENAS, HHI, FHR, IAF, IMS, IPMS and IZM as well as Leibniz FBH and IHP are working together with Fraunhofer ITWM in the T-KOS joint project. The project is also funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF) (funding codes 16KIS1404K, 16KIS1405 and 16KIS1406).
