Exhibitor Press Releases

The University of Pretoria has established a sub-THz measurement facility in its Carl and Emily Fuchs Institute for Microelectronics (CEFIM) in the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering. This was made possible through the allocation of funding by the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) via the National Research Foundation (NRF)’s National Equipment Programme (NEP).

As a national centre, this will enable CEFIM to test components and subsystems in the first state-of-the-art sub-Terahertz (THz) measurement facility in Africa, and among only a very small number of such high-frequency facilities in the southern hemisphere. It will advance research in a wide range of applications, including next-generation wireless communication, radio astronomy and water vapour radiometry.

Sub-THz measurement refers to the evaluation, testing and characterisation of electromagnetic signals at a frequency range up to 300 GHz. This is critical for next-generation 6G wireless research, and is important for specific radio astronomical observations. The facility will be operated with the intention of providing access to national users. It will create new opportunities for research and innovation, not only in globally competitive knowledge production and the development of highly skilled human resources, but also for the transformation of research outputs for exploitation in the service of industry and society.

Lead-in training

The new equipment has been installed in CEFIM’s millimetre (mm)-wave laboratory. It comprises a new-generation vector network analyser that can provide a continuous, broadband frequency sweep up to 220 GHz, with matching harmonic mixers and calibrated noise sources for spectrum and noise analysis. Postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows who will be using the equipment in their research, as well as CEFIM’s staff members who will be supervising research in this field, and CEFIM’s laboratory technician, Kim Williamson, were invited to attend lead-in training on the equipment on 26 and 27 May 2026.

It was presented by Prof Tinus Stander and Dr Heinrich Laue from CEFIM, together with the instrument suppliers of the different pieces of equipment. This included Darius Opperman from Tamashi Technology Investments (the South African agent for the equipment), and Stefano Balzarini (the manufacturer’s representative in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Region, who is based in Milan, Italy).  

Reuben Neate, one of the postgraduate researchers who attended the training, explains that this equipment will enable him to perform testing that was not previously possible in South Africa. His research on water vapour radiometry at 183 GHz is particularly useful for mm-wave radio astronomy, specifically to develop systems that can test potential sites for the next-generation Event Horizon Telescope (ngEHT). This telescope will capture sharper images and even videos of black holes in the universe by linking telescopes all over the world together to create a virtual earth-sized telescope.  He is excited to be among the first researchers to be using CEFIM’s new equipment.

Impact of the new instrumentation

The new instrumentation that has been procured will enable the full-service electrical characterisation of microwave and mm-wave devices up to 220 GHz. This was necessary to address the changing scope of CEFIM’s research field, where terrestrial communications, radiometric imaging and radio astronomy all require novel electronics research above CEFIM’s previous limit of 110 GHz.

Even at its previous capacity, CEFIM was the only South African facility to cover measurements in the frequency range of 70–100 GHz. Extending its capabilities will further enhance the institute’s profile as a unique, world-class research facility. It will also enable South African researchers to make an early impact alongside their international counterparts.

Prof Stander, whose work in this field is internationally recognised, explains that some future 6G communication networks are expected to operate in the 100–300 GHz bands, whereas many next-generation radio astronomy receivers are required for observations at sub-THz frequencies. “As this is an emerging research field, no facility existed in South Africa to measure electromagnetic waves at this frequency. This is what makes our establishment of this facility so significant on a national scale.”

The facility has the added advantage of advancing existing collaborative research projects and enabling new collaborations, which will impact research across disciplines, and create a wider impact on the South African innovation system. Its use in multidisciplinary research projects includes the testing of next-generation radio astronomy receivers, enabling research outputs shared by astronomy and electronic engineering. Combined with CEFIM’s existing precision manufacturing and assembly capabilities, the measurement facility will increase the number of radio astronomy projects South African engineers can meaningfully participate in, opening the door to new kinds of sub-THz radio astronomy research in South Africa.

The facility will also support CEFIM’s development and fabrication of next-generation radio astronomy receivers at sub-THz frequencies, funded by a South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) Research Group Grant. It will further support the group’s research collaborations with the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (INAOE).

It will also support CEFIM’s participation in the Atacama Large Aperture Submillimetre Telescope (AtLAST) project, enabling it to develop prototypes and test selected receiver concepts in-house. This also applies to its participation in the African Millimetre Telescope (AMT), led by Radboud University and the University of Namibia, which will support the ngEHT. CEFIM’s new sub-THz measurement capabilities and geographic advantage position it perfectly to become a key technical partner in this project.

Alignment with national priorities

The facility is aligned with government’s national priorities in terms of testing high-frequency radio astronomy receivers. Prof Stander observes that, while the National Research and Development Strategy correctly states that South Africa has “the engineering capability to build telescopes locally”, the country does not yet possess the facilities to test the next-generation sub-THz radio astronomy receivers that would be required for the AMT, the large aperture submillimetre telescope in the Atacama Desert in Chile or future extensions to the Korean VLBI Network in South Korea. “This facility will fill that gap in the engineering capabilities of radio astronomy engineering locally,” he says.

In addition to the design of radio astronomy receivers, the work done in water vapour radiometry systems for radio astronomy opacity measurements can also be applied in atmospheric and climate studies. Other applications of sub-THz technologies include
sub-THz spectroscopy, sensors, radar and imaging (tomography).

The facility’s sub-THz measurement capabilities will further contribute to CEFIM’s research into the built-in self-testing of high frequency electronics, which is also funded by the NRF. This research can now be expanded into sub-THz bands with in-house measurements on both bare wafer dies and packaged dies.

By continuing to contribute to microelectronics and electromagnetics research in this frequency range through CEFIM’s activities, the University of Pretoria is ensuring that South African research remains globally relevant and competitive, while making an impact locally.