New Source of T-Rays

Devices using terahertz radiation could lead to applications in security screening, chemical sensing and more

By Gregory Mone Posted 05.19.2008 at 9:58 am 3 Comments

T-Ray Scanner Eliza Grinnell, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Terahertz radiation, or T-rays, can see through clothing, paper, cardboard and numerous other materials, so scientists have been touting their potential for years. A T-ray-based imager could spot concealed weapons hidden under a person's clothes or even identify tumors without inducing any bad side effects.

Now scientists at Harvard University have developed a prototype device that moves portable terahertz scanners a little closer to reality. Previously, the radiation sources were just too big and complex. The Harvard group used commercially-available nano-technology to develop a device that works at room temperature, and doesn't have to be cryogenically-cooled, like previous versions. "Terahertz imaging and sensing is a very promising but relatively new technology that requires compact, portable and tunable sources to achieve widespread penetration," says one of the lead scientists, Federico Capasso. "Our devices are an important first step in this direction."

The work is published in the latest issue of Applied Physics Letters.

Via EurekAlert

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3 Comments

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Randy Knudson

05/22/08 at 11:03 am

there are portable compact terahertz units on the market today, that don't need external cooling. This article is therefore difficult to understand. Picometrix a subsidary of Advanced Photonix has sold it's T-2000 to Nasa over 2 years ago. It just sold it's newer, faster, smaller, more powerful laptop size email to Nasa, and has a number of other customers.
http://www.advancedphotonix.com/ap_products/terahertz.asp

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DarkFx

05/23/08 at 1:36 am

Ahh, Now this is comforting, now we need to balance things with material that can reflect T-Rays.. Or absorb them.

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drydem

10/31/09 at 7:13 am

A new model of the way the THz waves interact with DNA
describes how the THz can damage DNA and why data on
this phenomena will be difficult observere and collect.
Boian Alexandrov and his colleagues at the Center
for Nonlinear Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory
in New Mexico have hypothesized that THz fields may
generate a nonlinear resonant effect whereby THz
waves unzip double-stranded DNA by creating
bubbles in the double strand[1]. They believe that model
may explain reported DNA damage caused by high
exposure to THz waves. They believe that the energy
captured by the nonlinear resonant of THz waves
can interfere with processes such as gene expression
and DNA replication. This hypothesized THz genotoxic
effects are probablistic rather than deterministic.
While THz waves are a natural part of environment,
a new generation of THz scanner/cameras are being
developed to scan an object being bombarded by Thz
waves which would expose humans to signficantly
higher levels of THz waves than normal[2].

[1]
How Terahertz Waves Tear Apart DNA
MIT: Technology Revieew
Friday Oct 30 2009
technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/24331/

[2]
Using THz Imaging to find concealed weapons
stl.uml.edu/PubLib/DickinsonDSS2006.pdf

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