Josep Miquel Jornet

Title: Terahertz Communications: From the Near Field to Satellite Networks

Abstract: The need for ever-increasing bandwidth is driving the research community to explore new spectrum frontiers. The sub-terahertz and terahertz bands (0.1–10 THz) offer a vast swath of untapped spectrum that could be used for many innovative communication and sensing applications. Over the last decade, remarkable progress in electronic, photonic, and plasmonic technologies has significantly narrowed the terahertz technology gap. Moreover, in-depth studies on terahertz signal propagation, combining physics-based and data-driven approaches, have dispelled misconceptions surrounding the terahertz channel. However, several communication roadblocks must be overcome to unleash the spectrum above 100 GHz. This talk will follow a bottom-up approach to highlight innovative solutions and open challenges for terahertz communications and sensing systems on the ground, in the air, and in space. Topics to be covered include revolutionary graphene-based plasmonic device technologies, ultra-broadband waveform designs that exploit molecular absorption, near-field wavefront engineering techniques akin to optical systems, and early insights into designing a full protocol stack for ultrabroadband ultradirectional networks, always with an eye toward experimental demonstrations with state-of-the-art testbeds.

Bio: Josep Miquel Jornet is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the director of the Ultrabroadband Nanonetworking (UN) Laboratory, and the Associate Director of the Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things at Northeastern University (NU). He received a Degree in Telecommunication Engineering and a Master of Science in Information and Communication Technologies from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain, in 2008. He received a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, in August 2013. He has co-authored more than 220 peer-reviewed scientific publications in these areas, including one book and five US patents. His work has received over 15,000 citations (h-index of 56 as of August 2023). He is serving as the lead PI on multiple grants from U.S. federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Air Force Research Laboratory, and industry. He is the recipient of multiple awards, including the 2017 IEEE ComSoc Young Professional Best Innovation Award, the 2017 ACM NanoCom Outstanding Milestone Award, the NSF CAREER Award in 2019, the 2022 IEEE ComSoc RCC Early Achievement Award, and the 2022 IEEE Wireless Communications Technical Committee Outstanding Young Researcher Award, among others, as well as four best paper awards. He is a senior member of the IEEE and an IEEE ComSoc Distinguished Lecturer (Class of 2022-2023). He is also the Editor in Chief of the Elsevier Nano Communication Networks journal and Editor for IEEE Transactions on Communications.