Novel Terahertz Sensing System

Technology

The invented system collects terahertz radiation scattered from a target and upconverts the collected radiation to optical frequencies. A frequency-domain spectrometer senses spectral components of the upconverted signal in parallel to produce a spectroscopic measurement of the entire band of interest in a single shot. The detected spectrum can then be used to derive information about spectroscopic characteristics of the sample. Because the spectrometer detects different spectral components of the measurement signal in a parallel manner, the system can measure moving samples and fast events.

Problem Addressed

Detecting terahertz radiation is an extremely slow and difficult process, which is why a need exists for improved systems for and methods of sensing terahertz radiation. Also, prior systems with serial architectures are limited to detecting stationary objects.

Advantages

• Can measure a complete spectrum once per pulse, resulting in much higher scan speeds (e.g., thirty times higher if the system measures thirty frequency components in parallel) due to its parallel architectures.
• Can detect moving objects due to the ability to measure a spectrum on a “single shot” basis.
• Can measure terahertz spectra at standoff, making them better suited to concealed weapons detection and other imaging applications.