Diamond heat sinking of terahertz antennas for continuous-wave photomixing

T. Ackemann¹, M. Alduraibi², S. Campbell¹, S. Keatings¹, P. Luke Sam¹, H. Fraser¹, A. S. Arnold¹, E. Riis¹, and M. Missous²

¹SUPA and Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, Scotland, United Kingdom
²School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M60 1QD, United Kingdom 

The generation of cw Terahertz radiation from photomixing in low-temperature grown GaAs is limited by the thermal load for single emitters. We propose a new heat sinking scheme based on high thermal conductivity, transparent crystalline heat spreaders as diamond in direct contact with the active zone. A first working device based on recessed electrodes is demonstrated and has a significant power dissipation capability of more than 0.75 W (average). The electrical and terahertz characteristics are analyzed.