80-Gb/s Fiber-Terahertz System in 300-GHz Band using Stable Optical Frequency Comb Generation

Terahertz communications are considered a promising solution for fixed wireless access, mobile backhaul/fronthaul, and inter-building connectivity. Several high-speed terahertz-wave systems have been demonstrated using both electronic and photonic technologies. However, to facilitate the deployment of this technology in practice, simplification of the transceivers is crucial. Further, a highly stable and low phase noise system is critical to reduce the complexity and power consumption of the receiver. This paper demonstrates a simple yet high-speed fiber-terahertz system in the 300-GHz band using a single dual-drive Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM)-based optical frequency comb generation. A stable optical frequency comb signal could be generated using a single MZM, significantly simplifying the transmitter. Using this method, a highly stable and low phase noise terahertz-wave signal was generated, making it possible to employ a basic digital signal processing to recover the signal at the receiver.