  The prospects of utilizing single-carrier (SC) and multi-carrier (MC)
waveforms in future terahertz (THz)-band communication systems remain
unresolved. On the one hand, the limited multi-path components at high
frequencies result in frequency-flat channels that favor low-complexity
wideband SC systems. On the other hand, frequency-dependent molecular
absorption and transceiver characteristics and the existence of multi-path
components in indoor sub-THz systems can still result in frequency-selective
channels, favoring off-the-shelf MC schemes such as orthogonal
frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM). Variations of SC/MC designs result in
different THz spectrum utilization, but spectral efficiency is not the primary
concern with substantial available bandwidths; baseband complexity, power
efficiency, and hardware impairment constraints are predominant. This paper
presents a comprehensive study of SC/MC modulations for THz communications,
utilizing an accurate wideband THz channel model and highlighting the various
performance and complexity trade-offs of the candidate schemes. Simulations
demonstrate that discrete-Fourier-transform spread orthogonal time-frequency
space (DFT-s-OTFS) achieves a lower peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) than
OFDM and OTFS and enhances immunity to THz impairments and Doppler spreads, but
at an increased complexity cost. Moreover, DFT-s-OFDM is a promising candidate
that increases robustness to THz impairments and phase noise (PHN) at a low
PAPR and overall complexity.
