 |
|
Terahertz Waves
Mankind has harnessed and used just about all of the electromagnetic spectrum. We have radar, microwave ovens, radios, cell phones, wireless communications, X-Rays, lasers, and so on. Yet, there is one area of the electromagnetic spectrum that has yet to be harnessed and exploited. This area is called the Terahertz Gap. It is an area that lies between microwave and infrared frequencies.
This area of the spectrum is extremely important. It is the most scientifically rich band of frequencies in the entire spectrum. Researchers have discovered over the past 20 years that organic molecules resonate at frequencies in this range. This means that the presence and composition of organic matter can be detected by a "Terahertz radar" sending out terahertz frequencies. This has many very interesting applications. The military and other security organizations are requesting a hand held Terahertz radar to remotely detect the presence of explosive materials, poison gases, ceramic weapons, and biological warfare agents like viruses and bacteria. The Medical community has shown that Terahertz Waves can detect the presence of Cancer, viruses, bacteria, and other diseases instantly without surgery, biopsies, or other expensive procedures making this an important and urgent application of Terahertz waves. Pharmaceutical and Agricultural companies are investigating the use of Terahertz waves in quality control and research.
The Terahertz Gap: Barriers to Terahertz Wave Exploitation
The problem with Terahertz Waves is that they are difficult to create. These frequencies lie between the capabilities of typical optical devices and typical electronic devices. The devices that do exist to create Terahertz waves (besides those created by the Teraphysics Corporation) are inadequate for commercial use. They are either of extremely low power (in the Microwatt realm), or are too large to be of any practical use. Below are pictures of a Free Electron Laser and a typical Backward Wave Oscillator.
Typical Terahertz Sources
Free Electron Laser
|
|
Typical Backward Wave Oscillator |
|
Conventional Backward Wave Oscillator |
As you can see by the pictures above typical terahertz sources are much to large and cumbersome to be of any practical use. Smaller versions in operation are simply don't have enough power. The Holy Grail of the Terahertz field is to create a small source (hand held) with high power (approaching 1 watt). This situation is similar to the problem of the computer before integrated silicon chips were invented. Before the silicon chip, computers where used only at research institutions and took up entire rooms of space.
Commercial Uses for Terahertz Devices
For more information see the articles and news page.
|
|