Abstract
Future radio access networks must accommodate growing mobile data traffic. Capacity between mobile devices and remote radio units (RRUs) must increase by using higher wireless carrier frequencies. Higher frequencies reduce reach, requiring RRU densification and high-capacity front- and backhaul connections. Optical fiber offers high throughput, but deployment can be expensive or unfeasible. Here we show an all-photonic sub-THz wireless link at 226 GHz over 1400 m, achieving a record-high net-rate-distance product of 214.2 Gbit s−1 km. Broadband photonic and plasmonic components enabled flat frequency response at high speeds. A novel dual-sideband receiver increased signal-to-noise ratio by 2 dB. We assessed power variations due to atmospheric turbulence; the scintillation index remained below 0.019 under strong turbulence, confirming sub-THz link resilience. A theoretical comparison with free-space optical links highlights the turbulence resistance. In this work, we show sub-THz links offer high capacity, resilience to weather and turbulence, and cost-effective deployment for wireless front- and backhaul.
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Data availability
Data from this work is provided in the manuscript, supplementary information figures and from the corresponding author upon request.
Code availability
The open-source software LabExT49 was used to control the laboratory instruments, perform the measurements, and collect the data. LabExT is publicly available on GitHub. Code from published literature is used for offline digital signal processing (DSP) of the received data. The implemented algorithms are well established, and all relevant processing parameters are provided in the main text. The DSP code is available from the corresponding author upon request.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Armasuisse, ECO-eNET (10113933), Flex-Scale (101096909), Allegro (101092766). We thank NTT Electronics for the UTC-PD. This work was supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research, and Innovation (SERI) through the SwissChips research project. We thank Cleanroom Operations Teams of the Binnig and Rohrer Nanotechnology Center (BRNC) for their help and support.
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Open access funding provided by Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich.
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B.V., L.K., T.B. and Y.H. prepared and carried out the experimental studies. M.D, W.H. and Y.F performed and developed the fabrication process of the plasmonic modulator. B.V. developed the antenna alignment setup/routines and was supported by H.I., M.B., S.K. and J.S. Data analysis was performed by B.V. and T.B.; S.L. supported the experimental studies and measurements of temperature and humidity. The manuscript was prepared by B.V. and J.L., which was revised by all co-authors. J.L. supervised the work.
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Vukovic, B., Kulmer, L., Blatter, T. et al. Plasmonic modulator enabling kilometer-range high-throughput sub-THz links for radio access networks. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-72053-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-72053-z
