Terahertz imaging will be done on earth as it is in heavens

The European Space Agency (ESA) has launched the pioneering Star Tiger project at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in England, in which a small team of experts aims to create a terahertz imager operating in two frequencies: 250 and 300 gigahertz.

The team of scientists and engineers will begin work with the specific task of imaging a human hand in more or less real time. The use of two frequencies provides a means of contrasting materials with different transmission and reflection properties such as skin and tissue, effectively creating two colours.

Project leader Dr Chris Mann said, "The imager will provide a view port into present hidden information embedded in the natural terahertz radio waves emitted by pretty much everything, including people.

"Applications include astronomy and atmospheric physics as well as earth and environmental monitoring. With the use of micro electromechanical systems and photonic band gap technology, the Star Tiger imager will be low powered and compact, opening up the possibility of planetary and micro-satellite missions.

"The team is being asked to produce at low cost, a mass and volume colour terahertz imaging system which would be made using a combination of micro machining and lithography-based manufacturing techniques. The over-riding limiting factors for present imagers are their complexity, combined with their size, mass and cost."

Non-space activities would also benefit from the technology, including industrial process control and medical diagnostics. Terahertz radio waves are able to penetrate the uppermost layers of skin making the early detection of skin cancers a possibility. Security surveillance is another area that may benefit.

By observing terahertz radio waves, it is possible to see through many materials such as clothing, obtaining the equivalent of an X-ray image without the use of X-rays.

For more information visit Star Tiger