ECE Associate Professor John Papapolymerou received the Best Paper Award in the active circuits area at the 2008 IEEE Asia Pacific Microwave Conference. The conference took place December 16-19 in Hong Kong, China.

The award winning paper is entitled "Power Combining Multiplier Using HBV Diodes at 260 GHz." The goal of this research is to develop low cost THz (>200 GHz) circuits, including signal sources, mixers, filters, and antennas by using wafer-level silicon micromachining techniques. It is expected that low-cost THz systems will be used in radio astronomy, remote sensing of the environment, and ultra-wideband communications. They could also be used in biological and chemical applications, such as anti-terrorism devices and detection of chemical/biological agents.

Dr. Papapolymerou specializes in the electromagnetics and electronic design and application areas, and he leads the Microwave Circuit Technology Group (MCTG). Paper co-authors include Peter Kirby, a Ph.D. graduate from the MCTG, and Yuan Li, a current Ph.D. student in the group. Jeffrey Hesler and Qun Xiao are from the Department of ECE at the University of Virginia and Virginia Diodes, Inc.