Chemistry is right for T-ray imaging

• Published in: IEEE circuits and devices magazine Vol. 12; no. 2; pp. 25 - 30
• Main Author: Nuss, M.C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01-03-1996
• Subjects: Chemical technology; Chemistry; Frequency; High-resolution imaging; Microwave imaging; Optical imaging; Spatial resolution; Spectroscopy; Submillimeter wave measurements; Submillimeter wave technology
• ISSN: 8755-3996; 1558-1888
• DOI: 10.1109/101.485909

What do you get if you combine very high frequency microwaves, real-time imaging, submillimeter spatial resolution, and chemical sensitivity? The answer is Terahertz, or "T"-ray, imaging. This novel imaging technology operates in the submillimeterwave region of the electro-magnetic spectrum, a portion of the spectrum that was previously hard to access using conventional technologies. But recent advances in high-speed optoelectronic and femtosecond laser technology facilitate generation and detection of short bursts of terahertz radiation, which have proven to be extremely useful for spectroscopic measurements in the submillimeter-wave range. T-ray imaging combines these spectroscopic measurements with real-time imaging and advanced signal processing and recognition, so that each pixel element of the image contains spectroscopic information about the object. In many cases, the spectroscopic information gives us significant clues about the chemical composition of the object of interest.