UoH researchers design, develop new 2D Terahertz imaging system

The new 2D Terahertz imaging system developed by University of Hyderabad researchers can detect concealed arms and ammunition, metallic, explosives and drugs

Hyderabad: In a development that could be a shot in the arm for security agencies in the country, the University of Hyderabad (UoH) researchers have designed and developed a new 2D Terahertz imaging system that can detect concealed arms and ammunition, metallic, explosives and drugs.

The Terahertz (THz) radiation also known as T-ray lies between the microwave (Electronics) and Optical region of the electromagnetic spectrum, which is extended between 100 GHz to 10 THz frequency or 3 mm to 30 µm wavelength range.

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This radiation has the capability to interrogate a wide variety of materials, such as semiconductors, gases, polymers, pharmaceutical drugs, chemical mixtures, biological, and environment pollutants and help in determining the optical properties of many dielectrics and non-metallic materials.

The research team led by Prof. AK Chaudhary and senior research scholar P Naveen Kumar, ACRHEM, School of Physics, UoH, used an optical fiber coupled femtosecond laser, a voice coil-driven corner mirror with a position sensor and InGaAs / InAlAs photoconductive antennas for THz generation and detection. They developed THz pulsed imaging systems between 0.1 to 2.0 THz range

The system, which provides five numbers of real time images of the given object, was able to detect concealed metallic, explosives and drugs samples inside the paper envelope, the researchers said.

The project work funded by the DRDO was published in the current issue of In. J. of Physics, March 2023.