The library of 2D materials is growing at a rapid rate driven by the potential extraordinary electronic applications that they can offer. In parallel, terahertz (THz) technologies has continued to draw a great interest due to the many applications that it can have a profound impact in but has continuously been hindered due to the low power and wide scale applicability of current THz source technologies. THz surface plasmonics is coming in to the forefront as an area which can bridge these two emerging technologies and allow the necessary breakthrough that is needed in the so called THz source gap region of 0.5 – 3 THz. In this project the goal is to develop architectures which can efficiently amplify THz waves based on surface plasmons in 2D materials. The fundamental attributes that underline this approach resides in the interaction between THz radiation and electrically driven surface plasmons which provides amplification through an exchange of energy and momentum limited only by the properties of the gain medium. Thus the limits of the amplification are governed by limits to the electrical excitation of surface plasmons and how well these surface plasmons couple to the THz radiation. By utilizing novel 2D materials with extraordinary electrical properties based on Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDs) and Transition Metal Monochalcogenides (TMMs) as well as traditional carbon based materials such as graphene we plan to stretch these limits and achieve ground breaking results in terms of amplification and gain by incorporating the developed amplifiers into existing state-of-the-art Silicon – Germanium hetero junction bipolar (HBT) based THz arrays. In the consortium led by THALES, leading experts from advanced research institutes, SMEs and universities which specialize in growth and modelling of 2D Materials as well as THz source development and characterization have come together to achieve such a ground-breaking vision.

New communications and radar systems require small and tunable high-frequency devices, since their backbone is the Internet-of- Things (IoT). The need for ultrafast, low-energy-consumption information processing of an exponentially increasing data volume will lead to a global mobile traffic reaching 4394 EB by 2030, thus starting the 6G era (data rate up to 1 Tb/s) of an “ubiquitous virtual existence”. In today’s wireless applications, radar sensors play one of the major roles. Due to the increased need for higher sensitivity and non-destructive inspection systems, the frequency of the radar sensors has reached up to 300GHz on silicon-based technologies. On the other side, 60GHz radar sensing is considered one of the main products for smart home, non-destructive material classification, monitoring vital signals, and all the IoT application that need micro-motion detection. The market penetration for these sensors is now hampered by (i) the limited antenna performance (mainly for the 300GHz case) and (ii) the frequency selectivity and tunability (mainly for the 60GHz case). SMARTWAY proposes novel architectures based on new paradigms that exhibit a significant decrease in energy consumption while improving on speed/performance and miniaturization. The disruptive nature of the targeted approach relies on a progress towards the wafer-scale integration of two-dimensional (2D) materials, metamaterials (MMs), and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into radar sensor suitable for IoT sensing applications at both millimetre-waves (i.e., 24–60GHz) and THz frequencies (i.e., 240–300GHz). The final outcomes of the project will be two demonstrators, apt to provide industry compatible solutions for radar sensor technologies. For the first time, the nanotechnological paradigms “2D materials” and “CNTs” will be harmonized with the MM concept, thus producing brand-new designs of large-scale complete systems with emphasis on compatibility and integration of different materials/technologies.

In the current booming satellite ecosystem, optical communications are now the champions of data handling. They are a must for super-capacity transmission systems, and they are a must for smaller and lighter payloads. The core enabling technology of these systems is the Optical Transceiver. In its most advanced versions, it is deployed either in the form of VCSEL-based or as integrated coherent lightwave modules. These complex products encompass diverse technologies such as lasers, electronic and photonic chips, micro-optics, optical and electrical interfaces, all in sophisticated miniature packaging. European sovereignty in producing such critical devices is of strategic importance, but to this date, a continental supply chain is missing. This is where SPACELINK come to play: SPACELINK is a natural evolution of H2020-SPACE-ORIONAS and SIPHODIAS – two successful EU funded projects, which have demonstrated optical transceiver circuits and modules to TRL >4, establishing the groundwork for the evolution and delivery of flight-ready hardware. SPACELINK is set-up to take the next step and through its manufacturing, assembly, integration and test campaign, will evolve the technology maturity and demonstrate flight-ready parts at TRL 7. SPACELINK aims to establish the first European supply chain of hi-rel optical transceivers, removing dependency barriers and securing Europe’s digital sovereignty. Leveraging high-end technologies in which Europe has and continues to invest, SPACELINK will deliver optical transceivers made in cost-effective wafer-scale fabrication. SPACELINK will deliver VCSEL-based and photonic integrated circuit systems that will challenge US-made solutions with drastic improvements in Size Weight and Power performance and manufacturability.