A comparative study of single-wire and hollow metallic waveguides for terahertz waves

Abstract

Motivated by numerous applications, active research is being conducted worldwide to explore the terahertz (THz) region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Waveguides are key components for the generation, propagation, and utilization of THz waves. This paper addresses two types of commonly-used waveguides in their simplest implementation: the single-wire and hollow metallic waveguides. Research on these two types of waveguides has appeared rather separately in literature. Yet they are based on a common formalism. This suggests a treatment on the same theoretical footing for an examination of their basic properties in terms of the field behavior, power flow, dispersion relation, and attenuation rate. Here, we present a comparative study on their similarities, differences, and relative merits, along with physical interpretations.