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Low-Cost Terahertz Camera in the U.S.

Image credits: news.mit.edu

Between the wavelengths of microwaves and visible light, terahertz radiation can penetrate various nonmetallic materials and identify chemical fingerprints. These convenient features could be used for a variety of tasks, such as airport security screening, quality control in the workplace, astronomical observations, nondestructive material characterisation, and wireless communications with higher bandwidth than current mobile bands.

Most terahertz devices currently in use, however, are pricy, sluggish, large, require vacuum systems, and operate at extremely low temperatures, making it difficult to develop devices that detect and create images from terahertz waves.

With this, a new type of camera that can quickly, highly sensitively, and at room temperature and pressure detect terahertz pulses has now been created by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Minnesota, and a commercial mobile company.

Additionally, unlike prior devices, it can simultaneously record data regarding the waves’ orientation, or “polarisation,” in real-time. Asymmetrical molecule-containing materials can be identified, or their surface topography can be ascertained using this knowledge.

Quantum dots, which are used in the new technology, have recently been discovered to be able to emit visible light when activated by terahertz vibrations. Then, the visible light can be seen with the naked eye and collected by a gadget that looks like a standard electronic camera’s detector.

The group created two distinct devices that can work at room temperature: one makes use of the quantum dot’s capacity to transform terahertz pulses into visible light, enabling the device to produce images of materials; the other generates images revealing the polarisation state of the terahertz waves.

The new “camera” is made up of several layers and was created using industry-standard manufacturing processes like those for microchips. A layer of light-emitting quantum dot material is applied to the substrate, followed by a coating of gold nanoscale parallel lines divided by small slits, and ultimately, an image is created using a CMOS chip.

A polarimeter, which has a construction like that of the polarisation detector, can detect the polarisation of incoming beams by using ring-shaped nanoscale slits. The sensitivity and resolution of the detector were proved by the researchers by taking terahertz-illuminated photographs of some of the structures utilised in their devices, such as the nano-spaced gold lines and the ring-shaped slits used for the polarised detector.

A component that generates terahertz waves to illuminate a subject and another that detects them are needed to build a viable terahertz camera. Regarding the latter, modern terahertz detectors either use photodetectors, which are reasonably quick but have extremely limited sensitivity, and are therefore very slow because they rely on sensing heat generated by the waves striking a substance, and heat propagates slowly. Additionally, up until now, most techniques required many terahertz detectors, each of which produced one pixel of the image.

The dearth of high-quality sources still exists, even though the researchers claim to have solved the terahertz pulse detection problem with their current study which is being addressed by numerous research organisations across the globe.

Recent sources-based microelectronic techniques are actively being developed, but the terahertz source employed in the new work is a huge and heavy array of lasers and optical devices that cannot simply be scaled to practical uses.

The researchers claim that there are other methods to increase the sensitivity of the new camera, including additional component downsising and strategies for safeguarding the quantum dots. The device may still have some uses even at the current detection levels.

Regarding the new device’s commercialisation potential, those quantum dots are currently accessible and affordable, and they are employed in consumer goods like television displays. Although the actual manufacturing of the camera devices is more difficult, it still relies on current microelectronics technology.

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CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

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Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

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SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

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HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

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IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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