Invited Paper

Millimetre Wave and Terahertz Technology for the Detection of

Concealed Threats – A Review

Michael C Kemp*

Iconal Technology Ltd, St John’s Innovation Centre, Cambridge, United Kingdom

ABSTRACT

There has been intense interest in the use of millimetre wave and terahertz technology for the detection of concealed
weapons, explosives and other threats. Electromagnetic waves at these frequencies are safe, penetrate barriers and have
short enough wavelengths to allow discrimination between objects. In addition, many solids including explosives have
characteristic spectroscopic signatures at terahertz wavelengths which can be used to identify them.

This paper reviews the progress which has been made in recent years and identifies the achievements, challenges and
prospects for these technologies in checkpoint people screening, stand off detection of improvised explosive devices
(IEDs) and suicide bombers as well as more specialized screening tasks.

Keywords: Millimetre wave, terahertz, terahertz imaging, terahertz spectroscopy, security screening, explosives
detection, stand-off detection

1. INTRODUCTION

The increased threats of criminal or terrorist action in recent years have led to the development of many techniques for
the detection of concealed weapons, contraband, explosives or other threats. These include metal detectors, X-ray
scanners, trace detection systems for the detection of vapours or particles of explosive left behind during handling,
nuclear quadrupole resonance, neutron activation and other systems based on energetic radiation1. Systems based on
electromagnetic radiation between, 1cm and 100 micron (30GHz – 3THz) have particular advantages that:
• Radiation penetrates many common barrier materials enabling concealed objects to be seen
• Wavelengths are short enough to give adequate spatial resolution for imaging or localisation of threat objects
• Radiation at these frequencies is non-ionising and, at modest intensities, safe to use on people

This has led to the development of imaging systems based on millimetre waves, usually defined as wavelengths 1cm
down to 1mm (30 – 300GHz) and the investigation of even shorter wavelengths 1mm down to 100micron (300GHz –
3THz) in the terahertz region. The motivation for working in each of these regions is different.

In the millimetre wave region, it is possible to produce purely passive systems which detect objects through a
combination of their own thermal ‘black body’ radiation as well as reflection from the sky or other ambient illumination.
Source and detector technology is relatively well developed in this region.

It is harder to work at terahertz frequencies, indeed the lack of practical sources and detectors for many years led to the
region becoming known as the ‘terahertz gap’. The region, however, has two potential advantages. Firstly, the higher
frequency means that systems can be physically smaller for the same resolution. Secondly, many materials, including
common explosives, exhibit characteristic terahertz spectral features which can be used to identify them. This leads to
the promise of direct detection of threat materials rather than simply inferring their possible presence by detecting an
anomaly which has to be resolved through further, physical inspection.

Interestingly, the generation and detection of millimetre waves dates back to the very earliest days of radio. J C Bose in
1896 only a few years after Hertz’s pioneering work used a spark gap transmitter and point-contact metal-oxide detectors
*mike.kemp@iconal.com; phone: +44 7768 258965; www.iconal.com

Optics and Photonics for Counter-Terrorism and Crime Fighting II, edited by Colin Lewis, Gari P. Owen,
Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6402, 64020D, (2006) · 0277-786X/06/$15 · doi: 10.1117/12.692612

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6402 64020D-1

to generate and detect radio waves of 5mm wavelength (60GHz) and carry out a wide range of experiments into
reflection, refraction and polarization of this newly discovered radiation2,3,4. More sensitive systems however, require
amplifiers and oscillators and the development of active electronic devices capable of operating at higher and higher
frequencies began in, and continued throughout, the 20th century. One driver was the development of higher frequency
and more compact radar systems from WW2 onwards. Another was radio astronomy, where again shorter and shorter
wavelengths were used, both to increase the resolution of telescopes, to detect cool dust clouds whose peak of thermal
emission is in the millimetre wave region and to detect molecular species in gas clouds through their rotational spectra.
Much of the early development of passive millimetre wave imaging has been for military applications such as aircraft
landing aids for seeing through rain and fog and a number of the millimetre wave security imagers being developed
today have their origins in these developments.

Generation and detection of terahertz radiation presents further challenges. The maximum frequency of an electronic
device is inversely proportional to the transit time, the time taken for a charge carrier to travel across the device.
Fabrication limits and electrical breakdown mechanisms mean that it is hard to make devices operate above a few
hundred GHz and the power of electronic sources falls as 1/f2 or 1/f3. The alternative method is to use approaches from
optics, but the low photon energy (hν) at terahertz frequencies compared with thermal effects (kT) limits the
performance of optical techniques – hence the ‘terahertz gap’. Development of a variety of source and detector
approaches to ‘fill the gap’, both electronic and optical, from the 1970s has been chronicled by Chamberlain5 and has led
to the realisation of practical laboratory systems and stimulated significant scientific research.

These advances have been accompanied by much interest in possible applications of the technology, just as has
happened in the past as other parts of the spectrum have become accessible. Interest in terahertz technology has focussed
on the security6,7, pharmaceutical8,9, non-destructive testing (NDT)10, and medical industries.11,12 as well as continuing
applications in astronomy and space science.

A number of different concealed-threat detection applications have been explored including the screening of
people13,14,15, screening for people such as stowaways and illegal migrants at border crossings16, postal screening of
letters and parcels17, and, baggage screening18. People screening applications focus on the detection of non-metallic
weapons and explosives in aviation security and in the protection of sensitive facilities for example, as well as on stand-
off suicide bomber detection and the detection of weapons carried by potential intruders or assailants. Mail screening
applications under development include the detection of drugs-of-abuse through their characteristic terahertz spectra as
well as explosives. In addition, the anthrax letter attacks in the USA in 2001 have prompted investigations into the
detection of ‘white powders’ using both spectroscopy and imaging. Baggage screening has also been investigated
although as we shall see, absorption and scattering by the many layers of clothing in a typical, heavily-packed suitcase
represents a significant barrier.

There have been several valuable reviews of related areas: Siegel19 and Chamberlain5 review terahertz sources and
detector technology; Woolard et al.20 describe a range of terahertz applications including detection of biological material;
Lettington21 describes millimetre wave systems and approaches; Federici et al.22 focus on security applications at
terahertz frequencies whilst Appleby & Wallace23 cover stand-off detection from 100GHz through 1THz. This paper
provides a broad overview of homeland security hidden threat detection applications across the frequency range 30GHz
to 3THz, at close range and stand-off, using both imaging and spectroscopy.

We begin in section 2 by considering the properties of threat, confusion and barrier materials at millimetre and terahertz
frequencies. Sections 3 and 4 introduce the physics of imaging and spectroscopy systems, source and detector
technology. In section 5 we describe some of the practical systems which have been developed for millimetre wave
imaging, whilst section 6 covers terahertz system developments. Section 7 discusses some issues and trends for future
development.

2. PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS

Active imaging systems rely on the reflection of radiation, whilst in passive systems, image contrast results from a
combination of emissivity and reflectivity. Detection of hidden objects depends on the transmission of radiation through

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6402 64020D-2

barrier materials as well as through the atmosphere. Inhomogeneous materials also scatter incident radiation to a greater
or lesser extent. All these properties of materials at millimetre and terahertz frequencies are relevant to the design of
detection systems.

In gases, millimetre wave and terahertz radiation excites mainly rotational modes in molecular spectra24. The line
structure is complicated by interactions between vibrational and rotational modes. At low pressures, the existence of
many lines provides distinct fingerprints but at atmospheric pressures, lines are pressure broadened with typical line-
widths of a few GHz.

At millimetre wave frequencies, non-conducting solids and liquids behave as dielectrics with a typical refractive index
range between 1 and 3. Since reflectivity is related approximately to the refractive index by:
2
⎛ n(ω ) − 1 ⎞
r (ω ) ≈ ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟
⎝ n (ω ) + 1 ⎠
This means that most materials reflect between 1% and 25% of the incident radiation. Absorption coefficients are
typically a few dB/mm at 100GHz and rise with frequency – due to a number of mechanisms including scattering.
Conducting liquids such as water have a reflectivity of 40% at 100GHz falling quickly to 20% at around 500GHz and
then levelling off25, and are very strong absorbers such that penetration into water or the human body is only a millimetre
or so26. Skin behaves similarly to water with a somewhat lower reflectivity11,13. Metals are more or less perfect
reflectors.

At terahertz wavelengths materials (solid, liquid and gas) absorb more strongly and refractive indices tend to be lower
leading to smaller reflectivity. The increased absorption is due both to resonances in the materials and scattering by the
microstructure of many substances. Absorption coefficients vary very widely. Some materials, such as plastics, remain
virtually transparent (<1dB/mm up to 3THz). Others, including glass, pottery and porcelain are strong absorbers
(~35dB/mm at 1THz). In addition, crystalline solids exhibit resonances due to intermolecular, phonon modes. The
features are broad, several tens of GHz wide or more, but a typical organic solid may have between 2 and 6 features in
the frequency range 0.5 – 3THz which can serve as an effective fingerprint. The spectral features vary in strength and
position with temperature27, but these changes are small compared with the line-widths over the range of normal
environmental conditions. Modelling of these resonances is computationally intensive, since they involve long-range
order and single-molecule models are therefore inadequate. Recent progress with models including intermolecular
forces has enabled features to be assigned in various chemicals and pharmaceuticals27, 28 and in explosives29, providing a
valuable theoretical underpinning to terahertz spectroscopy.

Atmospheric propagation

The atmosphere absorbs millimetre and terahertz radiation. There are many absorption lines from the various gases
which make up atmospheric air, in particular water vapour which has a strong, and variable, effect due to large
differences in water vapour content that occur due to natural weather conditions. Wallace13 has recently reviewed and
updated models of atmospheric absorption across the range from 10GHz right through to the ultraviolet (1000THz) as
shown in figure 1. Figure 2 shows experimental measurements of atmospheric absorption over the range 100GHz –
3THz.

Again, properties at millimetre wave and terahertz are very different. At millimetre wave, the atmosphere is
characterised by several very broad windows where the absorption is modest – rising from 0.1dB/km at 10GHz to
5dB/km at 300GHz. In very humid and very dry conditions, the absorption changes by up to an order of magnitude.
Nonetheless, at distances up to a few tens of metres at which stand-off detection applications have sensible resolution,
this line of sight absorption is not significant. A more significant effect is the change which atmospheric absorption
makes to the effective sky temperature. As we shall see later, the principal contrast mechanism in outdoor millimetre
wave imaging is reflection from the cold sky and the apparent sky temperature increases rapidly towards ambient
temperature at frequencies above 200-300GHz reducing the contrast available in outdoor imagery at higher
frequencies26.

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6402 64020D-3

 Atmospheric Attenuation

— RAIN
— FOG

A VU" k,JitfttH —STD

)- j1 h Il1IIL
0. ,d
/
0.01
10 100 1000 10000 100000 1000000
Frequency - GHz

Figure 1. Atmospheric attenuation at sea level from ref. 13, calculated using currently accepted models at sea level. Rain=4mm/hr,
fog=100 metre visibility, standard atmosphere (STD)= 7.5g/m3 water vapour, 2xSTD=15g/m3 water vapour.

Continuing into the terahertz region, we see that atmospheric absorption gets progressively stronger and the number of
water vapour lines increases. Whilst from a communications engineering perspective, the atmosphere has often been
regarded as opaque at terahertz frequencies, all is not lost. Again at distances less than a few tens of metres, there are
significant windows where, at least for active systems where the signal-noise ratio is 50dB or above, the atmosphere is
transparent enough to allow hidden object detection at modest stand-off distances. Also, the water vapour lines are
narrow enough, and have known positions, to allow their effect to be removed in spectroscopic applications.
0

20
Attenuation (db/m)

40

60

80

100
0 1 2 3 4

Frequency (THz)

Figure 2. Atmospheric attenuation measured at 293K, 27% RH. using a terahertz time domain spectrometer

Characteristics of Threat and Confusion Materials

We first reported the spectra of common energetic compounds (RDX, PETN, HMX, TNT) and commercial explosives
based on these compounds (PE4, Semtex-H) in 20036. These results are shown in figure 3 and have subsequently been
validated and extended by a number of groups17, 30-33 using time-domain terahertz spectroscopy and FTIR. The strong
absorption features, particularly of RDX-based explosives around 800GHz, open up the possibility of material specific
detection of these materials. It should, however be noted that practical detection systems will need to operate in
reflection rather than transmission mode due to the high absorption coefficients of the explosives themselves and, for
people screening applications, due to absorption by the body. Figure 4 shows the refractive index of RDX and PETN; the
spectral features due to the resonances are still visible, but are much less strong in reflection geometry measurements.

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6402 64020D-4

The absorption features are also present in scattered radiation, but here the overall signal strength is much lower, again
making detection more challenging.

Semtex

Absorption (offset for clarity)

PE4

RDX

PETN

HMX
TNT

0 1 2 3 4
Frequency (THz)
Figure 3. Terahertz transmission spectra of the raw explosive materials TNT, HMX, PETN and RDX together with the spectra of the
compound explosives PE4 and Semtex H.

Frequency/THz Frequency/THz
0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5 1.8 2.1 2.4 2.7 3.0 3.3 3.6 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5 1.8 2.1 2.4 2.7 3.0 3.3 3.6
200 2.0 2.0
Absorption 1.9 200 Absorption 1.9
-1

-1
Refractive index

Refractive index
1.8
Absorption/cm

Absorption/cm

150 1.8
150 1.7
1.7
1.6
100 1.6
100 1.5
n 1.5
1.4
50 1.4 50 1.3
1.3 1.2
n
0 1.2 0 1.1
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
-1 -1
Wavenumber/cm Wavenumber/cm

Figure 4. The THz absorption spectra (solid line) and refractive index (dashed line) of (a) RDX and (b) PETN.

It is not sufficient that threat materials have characteristic spectral features, these features must be distinct from harmless,
potential confusion materials. Also, barrier materials such as clothing or packaging used to conceal the threats must also
be free of confusing spectral features and, of course, must also be reasonably transparent at terahertz frequencies. We
and others have carried out several studies and measurement programmes to characterise common barrier materials and
potential confusion materials 34-36. Indicative results are shown in figure 5. Most barrier materials such as different types
of cloth, paper, cardboard, plastics are semi-transparent to terahertz with an absorption which rises smoothly with
frequency. Confusion materials, such as foodstuffs, confectionery, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals either have featureless
spectra or may have spectroscopic features in the THz range. However, having examined a large number of substances,
we find spectra are distinct and we have not observed significant confusion between explosives and other materials.

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6402 64020D-5

 5

Milk chocolate
8 80
Vitamins
Cotton 4
7 70 Granular sugar
Wool
Silk Powdered sugar
6 PVC 60
Absorbance (decadic)

Attenuation per layer (dB)

Absorbance
Suede 3
5 Polyester 50
Nylon
4 Leather 40
2
3 30

2 20
1
1 10

0 0 0
0 2
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
Frequency (THz)
Frequency (THz)

Figure 5. Terahertz absorption measurements of clothing materials and common foodstuffs

Other types of threat or contraband material are also of interest including chemical and biological warfare materials and
drugs of abuse. Studies have been carried out on these materials in solid, liquid in solution and gas or aerosol form. For
hidden object detection, the solid and liquid phase measurements are the most relevant. Globus and co-workers have
reported narrow features in spores of bacillus subtilis (BG) in the 300GHz – 700GHz region37. These results are
reviewed in Woolard et al20. and some theoretical models have been put forward38. Kawase39 has identified strong
signatures in a number of drugs of abuse and cutting agents.

3. IMAGING SYSTEMS
Contrast

It is convenient to characterise a scene by the radiometric temperature of the objects it contains16. Objects in a scene emit
thermal radiation with an emissivity ε compared with an ideal black-body radiator. They also reflect a fraction, r, of any
incident radiation, which is called the reflectivity. Finally an object may transmit a proportion t of radiation incident on
it from behind – the transmissivity. For incoherent sources, these contributions are additive and the apparent or received
temperature of an object is given by:

T = rT1 +εT2 + t T3

where T1 is the illumination temperature, T2 is the temperature of the object and T3 is the temperature of the background.
Note that r, ε and t will all be functions of frequency, angle of incidence and polarisation.

In a passive imaging system, these properties and the relative temperatures of the objects in and illuminating the scene
define the contrast seen in the image. In outdoor millimetre wave imaging at frequencies below 200GHz the sky is
usually 100-200K cooler than the ambient temperature and this means that objects such as metals show up very strongly
when they reflect the cold sky. Equally, if they reflect an object at ambient temperature, they can effectively disappear.
A complex scene will therefore alter in appearance considerably as the lighting conditions change. Detection can be
considerably improved if the system operates in real time and enables the operator to use movement as an additional
visual cue.

In passive systems at higher millimetre wave frequencies, and in systems used indoors, the principal source of
illumination is body heat and hidden objects will show up if they are cooler than the body and/or absorb some of the

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6402 64020D-6

body radiation. In active systems, the reflection coefficient r becomes the dominant factor. Active systems usually use
coherent illumination and whilst the ability to measure amplitude and phase can provide additional resolution it can also
be the source of significant interference effects or speckle. This effect can be minimised by including significant
frequency or angle diversity in the illumination. Since speckle will also be very sensitive to the exact position of objects
in the scene, being able to see a moving image significantly enhances the eyes ability to detect objects.

Resolution

The diffraction-limited angular resolution of an imaging system, α is approximately λ/D where λ is the wavelength and
D is the aperture size. For an object at distance d, the spatial resolution is approximately λd/D. For a resolution of 1cm
at a distance of 3m, this implies that a 35 GHz system requires an aperture of some 2.5m and 1m at 94GHz. At 300GHz
the aperture size is 30cm and at 1THz, just 10cm.

As pointed out by Mann40, the volume of a system for a given resolution scales as λ3 and several other factors such as
weight and power consumption can also be expected to improve as the frequency of operation is increased. Since
detection systems will often be deployed in situations where space is limited, or where covert operation is required, this
provides a strong driver towards higher frequency operation. Set against this, is the increased cost of source and detector
technology as frequencies increase and the increased absorption of most barrier materials.

Depth of field is also an important design factor. Systems operating at a low f-number (aperture/focal length) have a
small depth of field and may require a focussing element in order to capture elements in a scene at different distances.
Operating at higher frequencies allows larger f-numbers and more depth of field.

Noise and sensitivity

The sensitivity of an imaging system is the lowest temperature difference which it can detect. This is the temperature
difference equivalent to that of the thermal and other noise in the antenna and detector circuits and is known as Noise
Equivalent Temperature Difference (NETD) or alternatively NE∆T.

NETD = NA+NT/√(Bτ)

where NT is the Noise Temperature of the detector, NA is the effective temperature of the antenna, B is the RF bandwidth
and τ is the post-detection integration time. Receiver Noise Temperatures can range from a few hundred to a few
thousand K. An NT of 1000K, an RF bandwidth of 20GHz and an integration time of 50us, leads to an NEDT of 1K.
Cooled receivers will have improved noise performance, although an ambient temperature scene will have its own
thermal fluctuations due to its radiometric temperature T and there is no point in the receiver having significantly lower
noise than this. It should be noted that the system NETD will be greater than the raw NETD of the receivers due to
losses in the imager optical system, which, in a multi element scanned system can be a factor of 5 or more. An extensive
treatment of noise issues and calculations can be found in Brown41.

With up to 200K contrast available from the cold sky, outdoor millimetre wave imaging requires system sensitivity in the
order of 5K whereas for passive imaging indoors where the maximum contrast is significantly smaller, a sensitivity of
1K or better is needed.

Pulsed systems such as radar imagers or pulsed terahertz systems can also measure depth information6,42. This can
improve detection and system sensitivity by techniques such as range-gating to improve contrast. If, for example, a
bright reflection from the surface of an object such as clothing can be ‘gated out’, this can increase the contrast from an
object hidden underneath.

Multispectral and spectroscopic detection and imaging

Since the absorption and reflectivity of many objects is frequency dependent, measurements at two or more frequencies
can be used to increase discrimination. Doyle42 has investigated the use of multifrequency measurements at 74, 94 and
140 GHz, however at these frequencies the differences in refractive index and absorption are relatively modest. At

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6402 64020D-7

terahertz frequencies, there is more potential since pulsed terahertz systems, for example, can produce images with a
frequency range of 30:1. Kemp et al43 have shown how multi-spectral imaging can greatly improve the interpretation of
B-scan images – see figure 6. In addition, the existence of true spectroscopic features in certain materials such as drugs
and explosives at terahertz frequencies can be used for detection purposes, and may lead to automatic detection of threat
materials based on their spectra rather than having to rely on shape clues from an image32,44,45.
Spectral plot: Channel 3

5 mm 200
(free space)
Metal
400 plate

600

800 Plastic
explosive Plastic Poly-
1000
(PETN) explosive thene
(RDX)

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

20 40 60 80 100 120

Figure 6. Broadband and multispectral terahertz B-scan images of a number of objects hidden beneath two layers of cloth.

Imaging techniques

A variety of methods have been used to produce two and three dimensional imaging systems. A single detector may be
mechanically scanned across a scene using mirrors. Scanning time can be reduced by using a line array of detectors or a
full two dimensional array, at the cost of providing many detectors. Lettington21 gives a review of the different possible
approaches, whilst this is aimed at millimetre waves, the same principles apply to terahertz imaging.

Array systems are of two basic types – focal plane arrays (FPA) and pupil plane arrays, often called phased arrays. In the
former a lens, or more commonly at millimetre wave and terahertz frequencies, a mirror, is used to focus incoming
radiation onto the detector array to form the image. In the latter, the beam is steered electronically by varying or
measuring the phase relationship between array elements. An alternative way of looking at these systems is to note that
the image plane is the Fourier transform of the radiation field across the entrance pupil of the system. In an FPA, this
transformation is carried out using a lens or mirror; in a phased array, it is carried out electronically. Pupil plane arrays
have the advantage that systems do not have to be physically deep in order to accommodate the focusing optic, although
the electronics required are significantly more complex.

Mechanically scanned millimeter wave systems typically use rotating tilted mirrors13,21,42 and, with multiple detectors,
can operate up to video rates (15 frames/second). Terahertz imaging systems, with few exceptions, are currently limited
to a single detector and these currently take several minutes to capture an image (in order to allow longer integration
times to reduce noise) with scanning effected by translating off-axis parabolic mirrors, or moveable fibre-coupled
detectors. Pulsed, time-domain systems also require time to scan the whole terahertz waveform, although this does
generate depth or spectroscopic information at each pixel. Electronic beam forming using interferometry or aperture
synthesis has been used in radio astronomy and synthetic aperture radar for many years and has recently been explored
by Federici et al22 for use at terahertz frequencies.

4. SOURCES AND DETECTORS

Millimeter wave sources and detectors

Millimeter wave sources may be required, either for illumination of active systems or as local oscillators in a heterodyne
receiver. Up to 94GHz Gunn diode sources are available with powers of a few hundred mW. Above this frequency it is
common to use frequency multiplication. Most existing electronic solid state electronic sources are negative differential
resistance superlattice devices, such as Gunn diodes, where the negative differential electron velocity in GaAs or n-type
silicon induces oscillations in the circuit. Gunn diodes are robust and compact, and operate at room temperature.

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6402 64020D-8

Frequency upconversion by nonlinear reactive multiplication19 can be achieved in a chain of GaAs Schottky diode
multipliers46. Most implementations consist of doublers and triplers arranged in series47. In this manner, microwave
sources at 20-40 GHz can be used to drive multiplication chains, providing approximately 1mW at 500GHz and 100µW
at 1THz. Incoherent sources for artificial illumination of ‘passive’ millimetre wave systems can be provided using heated
panels or electronic noise sources. Coward et al48 describe a millimetre wave ‘light box’ designed to provide uniform
diffuse illumination source.

The challenge in millimetre wave detectors and receivers is the reduction of noise as well as complexity and cost,
particularly if an array of detectors is to be used to enable real-time imaging41. Direct detection with several low noise
amplifier (LNA) stages using Micromachined Millimetre-wave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) techniques in front of a diode
detector is the generally favoured technique up to 100GHz especially in passive systems. Heterostructure High Electron
Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) using GaAs or InP technology are used to minimise noise. These techniques are now
being developed up to about 200GHz49. Heterodyne or mixer-based receivers using Schottky diode mixers are also used
and this is the principal technique deployed above 100GHz at present.

Terahertz sources and detectors

A wide variety of techniques, both optical and electronic, have been considered to provide sources to help fill the
‘terahertz gap’ as described in the reviews by Chamberlain5 and Siegel19.

The most mature technology, and the one used in commercial terahertz systems for NDT imaging applications and
spectroscopy is the photoconductive switch where femtosecond pulses from an ultra-fast Ti:sapphire or similar pulsed
laser are used to induce rapid changes in carrier density, and hence conductance, of a metal-semiconductor-metal
junction50-52. By applying a bias voltage the accelerated electrical charges radiate a broad-band pulse of electromagnetic
radiation with a spectrum from below 100GHz to 4THz and above. The total power produced is typically in the 100nW-
1µW range. Coherent detection of the incident THz radiation can be performed in a similar photoconductive antenna
circuit. By gating the photoconductive gap with a femtosecond pulse synchronised to the THz emission, a DC signal that
is proportional to the THz electric field may be measured. Further, by varying the optical path length to the receiver, the
entire THz time domain can be sampled. In this way, both the amplitude and phase of the incident THz wave can be
obtained. Pulsed terahertz systems can have a dynamic range of over 80dB and operate at room temperature. On the
downside, ultra-fast pulsed lasers are relatively complex and costly; optical power is limited so that large arrays of
sources and detectors cannot easily be constructed; and the need to sample the pulse in the time domain using some form
of mechanical delay line means that systems are relatively slow and the depth of field at any one time is small.

Optical heterodyne conversion, or photomixing, can be achieved using two continuous-wave (cw) lasers53,54. The mixing
of two above-bandgap (visible or near-infrared) wavelengths produces beating, which can modulate the conductance of a
photoconductive switch (semiconductor) at the THz difference frequency. Upon application of a bias, monochromatic
continuous-wave THz (cw-THz) radiation is produced, with 1 µW powers reported at 1 THz. Coherent homodyne
detection is possible55. These all-photoconductive systems can be driven by inexpensive, compact and tunable diode
lasers56,57.

Both pulsed and CW photomixer sources have the advantage that they can easily coupled with a very sensitive, phase-
sensitive detector. Other, more powerful sources are available as described below, but the detectors with which they can
be coupled are much less sensitive.

Semiconductor diode lasers based on intersubband transitions, whilst prevalent in the visible and near-infrared, are
difficult to apply as THz sources since few semiconductors with suitable band gaps exist58. Quantum cascade lasers
(QCLs) overcome this problem by using a suitably engineered semiconductor heterostructure in which the electron
motion is confined along the growth direction, splitting the conduction band into discrete states59. The resulting
minibands allow THz transitions, and repetition of the structure allows each electron to ‘cascade’ from one miniband to
the next, emitting a THz photon at each transition, greatly improving the efficiency. Both pulsed and continuous-wave
operation is possible, and the frequency is dictated by the layer growth thickness. Cryogenic temperatures are needed for
operation below 10THz and the lowest frequency achieved is currently around 1.9THz60 at 5K without the need for
strong magnetic fields. Lower frequencies will doubtless be achieved, although the 1-2THz region, which would be

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6402 64020D-9

valuable for security applications, remains elusive. The maximum operating temperature achieved has increased from
liquid helium temperatures up to as high as 117K for CW operation and 164K for pulsed operation at 3THz61. These
developments are close to the ranges where Peltier electric coolers can be used, although as with superconductors, it is
not clear whether room temperature operation can be achieved. In comparison to pulsed systems, QCLs exhibit in
excess of 3 orders of magnitude increase in power, typically up to tens of milliwatts. The tunability is limited to small
sweeps around a single, design frequency.

Vacuum tube sources have been made to work at THz frequencies, with some success. Tube configurations such as
backward wave oscillators, reflex klystrons, clinotrons, magnetrons and gyrotrons have produced power levels of several
milliwatts well into the THz regime19. Backward wave oscillators are probably the most advanced tube systems62.
Electrons from a heated cathode spiral towards the anode through a comb-like, corrugated, decelerating structure in a
magnetic field, emitting radiation in the reverse direction. Output powers up to 100 mW are possible in the microwave
region, but this falls rapidly to typical values of 1 mW in the THz. Consequently, BWOs are primarily sub-1 THz
sources.

A THz-wave optical parametric oscillator (OPO) is formed by placing a crystal with a high electro-optic coefficient
inside a Fabry-Perot cavity and pumping with an ultrafast laser (typically a Q-switched Nd:YAG). The principle of
operation63 is the absorption of a photon, and the subsequent re-emission of two photons of lower energy by the
interaction of the pump laser with the difference frequency generation in the crystal, often LiNbO3. The THz ‘seed’ is
then amplified in the cavity taking power from the pump beam. OPO’s are tuneable by altering the cavity angle over a
range of 0.7-3 THz demonstrated64,65 with an output power of up to a few milliwatts.

Other sources include CO2 laser to pump low pressure flowing molecular gases in THz laser cells. A strong transition of
methanol occurs at 2.52 THz 66 and can provide output power of 20 mW.

Detectors include heterodyne detectors based on Schottky diode mixers and broadband devices such as pyro-electric
detectors and bolometers, typically cooled to liquid helium temperatures to increase sensitivity. The radio astronomy
community uses these cooled detectors including Superconductor Insulator Superconductor (SIS) and Hot Electron
Bolometer (HEB) detectors19. Other detector concepts under development include Quantum Dot - Single Electron
Transistor (QD-SET) detectors67 capable of detecting single photons, albeit requiring very low temperature (100mK or
so) operation. Although still less convenient and more costly and bulky than room temperature devices, recent advances
in electrical Peltier, closed-cycle Stirling and pulse tube coolers are starting to remove the need for liquid cryogens in
cooled detector systems.

5. COMMERCIAL MILLIMETRE WAVE IMAGING SYSTEMS

A number of companies have developed millimetre wave systems for people screening for weapons and explosives. A
representative sample is shown in table 1. These systems are all designed for people screening, either in a walkthrough
portal configuration or for stand-off operation. The portal systems are generally designed with spatial resolution of
approximately 1cm to detect small threat objects. The stand-off systems are variously designed to operate at distances
between 3m and 30m and typically to detect larger threat objects such as a suicide bomb or larger weapon. Three
different operating frequency ranges are in use:
• 25 – 35 GHz
• 94 GHz
• 200 – 300 GHz
Each corresponds to one of the relatively broad ‘windows’ that exist in atmospheric propagation. Atmospheric
absorption is not a significant issue for the relatively modest distances used in people-screening applications, but by
working in the same frequency ranges as some of the longer distance applications it is possible to benefit from more
readily available and lower cost components. At the lower frequencies, equipment needs to be relatively large, or
resolution is sacrificed. Higher frequencies enable more compact systems such as those developed by ThruVision40,68.
Also, especially for passive systems, it is easier to detect dielectric threat materials at higher frequencies since their
higher refractive indices at these frequencies makes them appear more ‘metal like’ and reflective. Another compact
system, operating at 94GHz for modest stand-off distances has been developed by Brijot69.

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6402 64020D-10

 Blade

Wallet
Explosive
simulant
sheet

Figure 7. Passive millimetre wave images from the 94GHz Smiths Tadar portal imager (courtesy Smiths Detection)

A number of different scanning systems are in use, both mechanical, electronic and hybrid. The Smiths Detection
system42 uses a pair of spinning tilted mirrors to scan in the X axis and a third mirror to raster scan in the Y axis on to the
detectors. The Qinetiq70 system uses a different arrangement with a single rotating mirror to produce a conical scan on
to a complete line array. It also exploits polarisers and a quarter-wave plate to enable a folded optic reducing the
dimensions of the scanning system.
Name L3 Agilent Qinetiq Qinetiq Smiths Sago Sago Brijot ThruVision
SafeView SPO 20 Tadar Trex Trex Real BIS-WDS T4000
Provision ST150 Time
100 Imager
Application Portal Portal Portal Stand-off Portal 5m Stand- Stand-off 3-10m Stand-off
8-30m off Stand-off
Active/ Active Active Passive Passive Passive Passive Passive Passive Passive
Passive
Frequency 24-30GHz 24GHz 35GHz 94GHz 94GHz 75.5- 75.5- 90GHz c250GHz
93.5GHz 93.5GHz
Bandwidth >10GHz 20GHz
Imaging source & Active Folded Mechanic Frequency Phased
System receiver antenna Schmidt al : Tilted scanned array of
array array: camera: rotating antenna freq
rotates programm conical mirrors and scanned
around -able scan, off- reflector antennas
subject Fresnel axis
zone-plate rotating
mirror
No. of 1 64 64 24 1 232 16
receivers
Receiver InP InP Direct InP GaAs
technology MMIC detection HEMT Schottky
MMIC mixer
System 5K 1K 1-3K 6K 1K 1-1.5K
NETD (receivers)
Spatial 0.5cm 0.5cm 0.75cm 0.3degree 10mm 6mrad 6mrad 5cm 3cm
resolution lateral 2cm 128*192
1.5cm pixels
depth
Refresh rate 6 views in 15Hz 15Hz 10Hz (24 0.5Hz 30Hz 4-10Hz 1-3 Hz
3 secs receivers) variable
Aperture 90cm 80cm 60cm 18cm 12cm
Dimensions 150 x 150 90 x 10 x 250 x 160 71 x 33 x
L x W x H x 270 90 x 220 48
cm

Table 1: A sample of commercial millimetre wave imagers

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6402 64020D-11

The Trex Sago71,72 approach is to create an azimuthal line scan through a frequency dependent coupling into an antenna.
In the ST150, the second axis is provided by panning the main reflecting mirror. In their real-time imager, a phased array
of some 230 receivers is deployed. The L-3 SafeView73,74 system is an active system based on developments from PNNL
using a holographic reconstruction from a fan-beam source and line array of detector antennas which rotate around the
subject being scanned. This system measures both amplitude and phase of the reflected signal for use in the FFT-based
holographic image reconstruction.

A novel approach has been developed by Agilent75 and demonstrated in prototype form. This employs a confocal
arrangement of a single source and detector. The source is reflected from a configurable mirror made up of a 2
dimensional array of several thousand dipole reflectors. Each dipole is connected to a large, fast switching array which
can place either a short or open circuit at the feed point of each dipole. This forms a programmable, reflecting Fresnel
zone plate which can be used to focus the millimetre wave source and detector onto a chosen point in space in front of
the mirror. The antennas can be switched so as to scan over 107 voxels per second, leading to a solid state imaging
system with a 15Hz refresh rate or higher. Although the frequency employed is relatively low, 24 GHz in the prototype
system, the programmable mirror is only a few cm thick, leading to relatively compact system.

Development directions in millimetre wave systems focus largely on methods to reduce the cost of systems, without
sacrificing sensitivity or resolution. Since most of these systems use a number of detectors in order to be able to capture
moving images, the cost of multiple receivers is one of the major cost elements.

6. TERAHERTZ SYSTEMS
7.
Above 300GHz, the field is still in the research and development phase, no commercial or operationally deployed
systems exist yet for security applications. There are several different types of approach being pursued by different
workers which can be divided into three main groups:
• Sub-millimetre wave electronic component and system development aimed at single frequency
imagers operating between 300 and 600GHz
• Component and system development for single frequency systems operating above 600GHz
• Broad-band imaging and spectroscopy

The first group is aimed mainly at reducing the footprint of current millimetre wave imagers – both for security and
military imaging applications. Two DARPA programmes, SWIFT76 and TIFT77 are developing both illumination source
and focal plane array technology at frequencies around 300-400GHz and 600GHz. Source technology includes vacuum
electronic sources targeting 100mW at 600GHz as sources for active stand-off imaging at a few 10’s of metres. Receiver
developments concentrate on arrays of heterodyne detectors and techniques for local oscillator power distribution across
the arrays. Above 600GHz, current work is mainly at the component level with work on increasing the performance of
all the sources and detectors described in section 4 as well as work in projects such as TeraSec78 which is building a
prototype stand off imaging systems using CW laser sources and a heterodyne detector array.

Figure 8. Raw passive indoors THz imagery obtained with an antenna-coupled microbolometer from ref. 83. The centre frequency is
approximately 450GHz.

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6402 64020D-12

Lee and Hu79 have explored the use of microbolometer focal plane arrays for the real-time detection of terahertz images.
They used a 4.3THz QCL source and a 320 x 240 pixel room temperature vanadium oxide microbolometer array camera
originally designed for use in infra-red thermal imaging at 7.5-14um but which had sufficient sensitivity at THz
frequencies to allow the imaging of small objects hidden inside an envelope in transmission mode at 60Hz frame rate.
The authors make the point that such a system could be used with a number of QCLs each operating at different
frequencies to provide a measure of frequency discrimination. QCL sources have also been used for imaging small
objects by Barbieri and Alton using a Schottky diode-based heterodyne detectors80.

Microbolometers provide an interesting broadband solution to the problem of detector arrays. They are intrinsically
simple, low cost, devices which can be designed in arrays to operate over a wide frequency range and have been
developed by Grossman and Luukanen81. Whilst at room temperature, their sensitivity is modest and need to be used in
an active system82, cooled to a few degrees K to reduce thermal noise, the sensitivity is considerably higher and
microbolometers can be used for indoor passive imaging over a wide range from 100GHz to beyond 3 THz. Luukanen83
has developed Niobium (NB) and Niobium Nitride (NBN) based microbolometers with NETD of a few tens of
milliKelvin which are being developed into linear arrays. The goal is a real time (30Hz frame rate) conical-scan system
with a line array of 128 detectors, operating across a bandwidth of 200GHz to 3.6 THz with a system NETD of 0.5K.
Laboratory images have been collected with a single pixel scanned detector at 10ms/pixel with an effective bandwidth of
at least an octave centred on 450GHz and an NETD of 200mK. An example is shown in figure 8. With a 30cm primary
optic, this system achieves a spatial resolution of 8mm on the whole body target. With such a broad bandwidth it is
possible to use bandpass filters based, for example on a frequency selective surface, to collect multi-spectral images
across the whole of the terahertz region84

Kawase39 has used an OPO based system to develop prototypes for inspecting mail for concealed drugs using a two level
system. The first level looks for powdered substances hidden in the letter by the increased scattering signal obtained
from powdered substances. If suspicious objects are detected, spectroscopic analysis is carried out to seek to identify the
substance.

We have used pulsed terahertz systems to demonstrate proof-of-principle stand-off explosives detection starting with the
materials characterisation of explosives, barrier and confusion materials, work on reflection spectroscopy and the
development of laboratory prototype systems for stand-off detection at a distance of 1m15. The system shown in figure
9, was used to demonstrate spectroscopic detection of RDX based explosives in real time (1/15 sec integration time)
beneath several layers of clothing at a distance of 1m, figures 10 and11.

Zhang has shown that a parallel collimated terahertz beam can travel up to 30m in air and then be focussed down, with a
remote optical system close to the target, to collect reflection spectra, again of RDX-based explosive85.
Beamsplitter
Femtosecond
Pulsed Laser

Long Delay
Stage

15Hz Fast
Scan Delay
Stage

Parabolic PC
Mirror
Detector
Target Signal
Lock-in
Amplifier
THz Beam Reference
Emitter
Parabolic
Mirror

Figure 9. Schematic of a THz photoconductive system. In this example, specifically designed for stand-off explosives detection, the
THz beam is manipulated for reflection spectroscopy of a target material.

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6402 64020D-13

 0.10

0.08
(a) 0.08
(b)
Reflectance

Reflectance
0.06
0.06

0.04
0.04

0.02 0.02
0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00
Frequency/THz Frequency/THz

Figure10. The measured (solid line) and calculated (dashed line) reflectance spectra of (a) Semtex-H, and (b) SX2 at a stand-off
distance of 1 m, under normal atmospheric conditions, taken real time. The calculated spectra were derived from transmission
spectroscopy data.

0.07 0.20
0 layers Cotton
0.06 (a) 0.15 1 layers Cotton (b)
Derivative Reflectance
2 layers Cotton
0.10 3 layers Cotton
0.05
4 layers Cotton
0.05
Reflectance

0.04
0.00
0.03
-0.05
0.02 Increasing layers of cotton -0.10
0.01 -0.15
0.00 -0.20
0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50
Frequency/THz Frequency/THz

Figure 11. (a) The reflectance of SX2 behind cotton clothing, and (b) the first derivative of the reflectance of SX2 behind cotton
clothing. The RDX spectral feature is clearly visible in (b) through 4 layers of cotton.

These experiments show that pulsed systems are capable of providing point spectroscopic measurements in real time at
distances of a few metres at frequencies up to about 1.5THz. For larger distances and to detect substances based on
spectral features at higher frequencies more power is needed. Although small scale arrays have been demonstrated using
pulsed terahertz15, arrays of many elements suitable for spectroscopic imaging in real time, require more optical
excitation power than can easily be provided by ultrafast lasers. In addition, long and fast delay lines are needed to
process signals from objects at an arbitrary distance. Accordingly, whilst pulsed terahertz applications might find
practical applications in concealed object detection at relatively small distances, or where the target object geometry is
well constrained, other approaches are needed for stand-off detection.

One such approach, being explored by several groups22,56 is to use photomixer based sources and detectors. Like pulsed
systems, these can be operated in the very sensitive coherent homodyne detection mode which compensates for the very
low powers (below 1 µW) generated by this technique. Since the laser sources are low-cost CW diode lasers and since
laser amplifiers can be used, these techniques are more suitable for developing arrays of either sources or detectors.
Federici22 has explored the use of this type of source and detector in work on interferometric imaging to address the
stand-off detection problem. As discussed in section 4, this uses the concepts of aperture synthesis to use an array of
detector pairs to provide coverage of the u-v plane. Extensive simulations have been performed, and recent work has
shown point-spread functions and images of simple objects produced by moving a single detector pair to sample the u-v
plane. Spectroscopic information can be obtained by tuning the sources and detectors. This can either be done by tuning
one of the diode lasers so as to vary the difference frequency, or by exciting the devices with several laser frequencies

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6402 64020D-14

simultaneously to generate a number of beat frequencies86. Further work is necessary to develop these techniques,
particularly to address the very significant fall-off in source power with frequency.

An alternative approach, due to Zhang90,91, to avoid the issues of atmospheric water vapour absorption in stand-off
detection, which has recently been demonstrated in the laboratory, is to propagate the optical pulse to the target and
generate terahertz waves locally by a so called four-wave-mixing approach between a NIR frequency fundamental pulse
and a second beam at its second harmonic focussed down so as to breakdown air into a plasma. Mixing due to a third
order optical process generates terahertz. Zhang has also shown that, analogously to detection in a conventional pulsed
terahertz system, probe beams (again using a fundamental and second harmonic) can be used to detect terahertz radiation
in a similar plasma. The experiment used an amplified Ti:sapphire laser, generating 800 nm, 120 fs, 800 µJ pulses at a
repetition rate of 1 kHz, which propagate in the atmosphere with minimal absorption. This is an ingenious approach,
although it should be noted that, unlike all the other techniques discussed here, potentially harmful laser radiation is
directed at the target, rather than just terahertz waves.

6. ISSUES AND TRENDS

So far, we have concentrated on the basic physical factors – sources, detectors, imaging system geometry, target and
barrier material properties which influence the performance of a system. Two other factors should also be considered.
The first is the use of algorithms and software to process the output in some way. The second is to consider the
millimetre-wave or terahertz device as simply one sensor in an overall detection system which may combine the output
of a number of complementary sensors – so as to span the ‘detection space’ more effectively.

Super-resolution techniques can be used to improve resolution by deconvolving the measured image with the point
spread function of the imager and this has been applied to millimetre wave imagery87-89. These resolution improvements,
however, come at the cost of increased noise in the image.

Other contrast enhancement techniques can be used to reduce the effects of instrumental artefacts or to enhance the
detection of threats based on known characteristics of threat objects. Where the characteristics of threats cannot easily be
modelled, trained neural network techniques can be applied. Federici22 has explored the use of these techniques on
simulated Terahertz images. Object identification when data on spectroscopic features is present can be extracted by
pattern matching techniques. Principal Component Analysis has been used to make so called ‘chemical maps’ from
hyperspectral terahertz images44,45. Overall, however, the use of image reconstruction and other algorithms is less
sophisticated than in related fields such as medical imaging, ground penetrating and synthetic aperture radars, etc. – and
it is likely that the field would benefit from cross-fertilisation from these areas.

A particular issue in people screening systems is that of privacy since millimetre wave systems match quite well the
popular image of ‘X-ray specs’ to see through clothing. Various proprietary approaches have been developed for whole-
body imagers, either to identify and blur-out the genital areas, or to extract potential threat objects and then overlay them
on a conventional video image.

Detection systems may be improved by using more than a single frequency or band of frequencies. Sensor fusion,
combining the output of disparate sensors, so as to span a larger ‘detection space’ and avoid the inevitable sensitivity
gaps inherent in any one technique, can be applied in a number of ways. The use of multi- and hyper-spectral terahertz
data has already been discussed. Since terahertz imaging systems are, for the time being slower than millimetre wave
systems, a millimetre wave image could be used to identify potential threat objects for further investigation by a terahertz
spectrometer. Going beyond this frequency range, Millimetre wave and video (CCTV) images can be overlaid and, of
course, it is possible to combine these with completely different types of sensor such as trace detection.

8. CONCLUSIONS

Developments of millimetre wave systems over a number of years have led to a range of commercial mm wave systems
mainly operating around 30GHz or at 94 GHz designed for a range of checkpoint and stand-off people screening
applications and these are now beginning to become more widely used in the field. Higher frequencies enable more
compact systems and these are also starting to appear with the launch of the ThruVision passive imager and other

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6402 64020D-15

components and systems under development moving up into the sub-millimetre or low terahertz frequency range. Whilst
commercial terahertz systems have been developed as analytical instruments and for specific industrial inspection tasks,
detection of concealed threats has, so far been limited to laboratory demonstrations. Before systems can be produced for
operational use, further development is required, both in source and detector technology and in system architectures. For
stand-off applications, there is still no obvious solution in terms of a cost-effective, powerful 100mW or above,
frequency agile or broadband source operating over the band 500GHz – 2.5THz, which can be coupled to a sensitive
detection scheme. Nonetheless terahertz continues to show promise as a technique for people screening due to its
potential for materials specific detection, an area where few other candidate technologies exist.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author would like to acknowledge valuable discussions and contributions referenced below from many research
groups and companies working in the field.
REFERENCES

1. J. Yinon, ‘Forensic and Environmental Detection of Explosives’, J Wiley & Sons, Chichester, 1999.
2. J. C. Bose, ‘On the determination of the wavelength of electric radiation by a diffraction grating’, Proc. R. Soc.
Lond., 60, pp167-178, 1897.
3. J. C. Bose, ‘Collected Physical Papers’, Longmans, Green & Co, New York, 1927.
4. D. T. Emerson, ‘The work of J. C. Bose: 100 years of millimeter-wave research’, IEEE Trans Microwave
Theory Techniques, 45, pp2267-2273, 1997.
5. J. M. Chamberlain, ‘Where optics meets electronics: recent progress in decreasing the terahertz gap’, Phil.
Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A, 362, pp 199-213, 2004.
6. M.C. Kemp, P.F. Taday, B.E. Cole, J.A. Cluff, A.J. Fitzgerald and W.R. Tribe, ‘Security applications of
terahertz technology’, SPIE 5070, p44, 2003.
7. W.R. Tribe, D.A. Newnham, P.F. Taday and M.C. Kemp, ‘Hidden object detection: security applications of
terahertz technology’, SPIE 5354, p168, 2004.
8. P. F. Taday, ‘Applications of terahertz spectroscopy to pharmaceutical sciences’, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A,
362, pp 351-364, 2004.
9. C. J. Strachan, P. F. Taday, D. A. Newnham, K. C. Gordon, J. A. Zeitler, M. Pepper, and T. Rades, ‘Using
terahertz pulsed spectroscopy to quantify pharmaceutical polymorphism and crystallinity’, Journal of
Pharmaceutical Sciences, 94, pp. 837-846, 2005.
10. D. M. Mittleman, R. H. Jacobsen, M. C. Nuss. ‘T-Ray Imaging’, IEEE J. Selected Topics in Quantum
Electronics, 2, pp. 679-692, 1996.
11. E. Pickwell, B. E. Cole, A. J. Fitzgerald, M. Pepper, and V. P. Wallace, ‘In vivo study of human skin using
pulsed terahertz radiation,’ Physics in Medicine and Biology, 49, pp. 1595-1607, 2004.
12. V. P. Wallace, A. J. Fitzgerald, S. Shankar, N. Flanagan, R. Pye, J. Cluff, and D. D. Arnone, ‘Terahertz pulsed
imaging of basal cell carcinoma ex vivo and in vivo,’ British Journal of Dermatology, 151, pp. 424-432, 2004.
13. R. Appleby, R. N. Anderton, S. Price, G. N. Sinclair and P.R. Coward, ‘Whole body 35GHz security scanner’
SPIE, 5140, pp 244-51,2004.
14. D.L. McMakin, D.M. Sheen, T.E. Hall, and R.H. Severtsen, ‘Cylindrical holographic radar camera’, SPIE,
3575, 1998.
15. C. Baker, W. R. Tribe, T. Lo, B. E. Cole, S. Chandler and M. C. Kemp, ‘People screening using terahertz
technology’, SPIE, 5790, pp 1-10, 2005.
16. J. Hall and M L Harman, ‘Radiometric millimetric imaging at Roke Manor Research’, SPIE, 5619, pp. 27-37,
2004.
17. K. Yamamoto, M. Yamaguchi, F. Miyamaru, M. Tani and M Hangyo, ‘Non-invasive inspection of C-4
explosive in mails by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy’, Japanese Journal Applied Phys., 43, ppL414-L417,
2004.
18. D. Zimdars, J. White, G. Stuk, A. Chernovsky, G. Fichter and S. L. Williamson, ‘Time Domain Terahertz
Detection of Concealed Threats in Luggage and Personnel’, SPIE, 6212, 2006.
19. P. H. Siegel, ‘Terahertz Technology’, IEEE Trans Microwave Theory & Techniques, 50, pp. 910-928, 2002.

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6402 64020D-16

20. D. L. Woolard, E. R. Brown, M. Pepper and M. C. Kemp, ‘Terahertz frequency sensing and imaging: a time of
recknoning future applications?’, Proc. IEEE, 93, pp. 1722-1743, 2005.
21. A. L. Lettington, D. Dunn, N. E. Alexander, A. Wabby and C-H. Chen, ‘Techniques for millimetre-wave
imaging’, Proc. SPIE, 5619, pp. 16-26, 2004.
22. J. F. Federici, B. Schulkin, F. Huang, G. Dale, R. Barat, F. Oliveira and D. Zimdars, ‘ THz imaging and sensing
for security applications – explosives weapons and drugs’, Semic. Sci. and Tech., 20, pp S266-S280, 2005.
23. R. Appleby and H. B. Wallace, ‘Standoff detection of weapons and contraband in the 100GHz to 1THz region’,
submitted to IEEE Trans Antennas and Propagation, 2006.
24. F. C. DeLucia, ‘Spectroscopy in the terahertz spectral region’, in Sensing with Terahertz Radiation, D
Mittleman Ed., Springer Verlag, Berlin, 2003.
25. C. Ronne and S. R. Keiding, ‘Low frequency spectroscopy of liquid water using THz-time domain
spectroscopy’, J. Mol. Liq., 101, pp. 199-218, 2003.
26. N. A. Salmon, ‘Scene simulation for passive and active millimetre and sub-millimetre wave imaging for
security scanning and medical applications’, SPIE, 5619, pp. 129-135, 2004.
27. M. Walther, B. Fischer, and P. U. Jepsen, ‘Non-covalent intermolecular forces in polycrystalline and
amorphous saccarides in the far infrared’, Chem. Phys., 288, pp. 261-268, 2003.
28. G. M. Day, J. A. Zeitler, W. Jones, T. Rades and P.F. Taday, ‘Understanding the influence of polymorphism on
phonon spectra: lattice dynamics calculations and terahertz spectroscopy of carbamazepine’, J. Phys. Chem. B,
110, pp. 447-456, 2006.
29. D. A. Allis, D. A. Prokhorova and T. M. Korter, ‘Solid-state modeling of the terahertz spectrum of the high
explosive HMX’, J. Phys. Chem. A, 110, pp. 1951-1959, 2006.
30. D. J. Cook, B. K. Decker, G. Maislin, and M. G. Allen, 'Through container THz sensing: applications for
explosive screening', SPIE, 5354, p. 55 2004.
31. Y. C. Shen, T. Lo, P. F. Taday, B. E. Cole, W. R. Tribe and M. C. Kemp, ‘Detection and identification of
explosives using terahertz pulsed spectroscopic imaging’, Appl. Phys. Lett., 86, p. 1116, 2005.
32. Y. C. Shen, P. F. Taday and M. C. Kemp, ‘Terahertz spectroscopy of explosive materials’, SPIE, 5619, pp. 82-
89, 2004.
33. F. Huang, B. Schulkin, H. Altan, J. Federici, D. Gary, R. Barat, D. Zimdars, M. Chen and D. Tanner, 'Terahertz
study of 1,3,5-Trinitro-s-triazine (RDX) by Time Domain Spectroscopy and FTIR', Appl. Phys. Lett., 85 p. 5535
2004.
34. W. R. Tribe, D. A. Newnham, P. F. Taday and M. C. Kemp, ‘Hidden object detection, security applications of
terahertz technology’, Proc. SPIE, 5354, p.55, 2004.
35. D. T. Petkie, F. C. De Lucia, C. Casto, P. Helminger, E. L. Jacobs, S. K. Moyer, S. Murrill, C. Halford, S.
Griffin and C. Franck,’ Active and passive millimeter and sub-millimeter-wave imaging’, SPIE, 5989, pp. 2005.
36. A. J. Gatesman, A. Danylov, T. M. Goyette, J. C. Dickinson, R. H. Giles, W Goodhue, W. Waldman, W. E.
Nixon and W. Hoen, ‘Terahertz behaviour of optical components and common materials’, SPIE, 6212, 2006.
37. T.R.Globus, D.L.Woolard, T.Khromova, T.W.Crowe, M.Bykhovskaia, B.L.Gelmont, J.Hesler, and A. C.
Samuels, ‘Thz-Spectroscopy of Biological Molecules’, J. Biol. Phys., 29, pp.89-100, 2003.
38. E. R. Brown, T. B. Khromova, T. Globus, D. L. Woolard, J.O. Jensen and A Majewski, ‘ Narrow THz
attenuation signatures in Bacillus Subtilis spores’, Phys Rev Lett., Jan 2005.
39. K. Kawase, Y. Ogawa and Y. Watanabe, ‘Non-destructive terahertz imaging of illicit drugs using spectral
fingerprints’, Opt. Express, 11, p.2549, 2003.
40. C. Mann, ‘A Compact Real Time Passive Terahertz Imager’, SPIE 6211, 2006.
41. E. R. Brown, ‘Fundamentals of Terrestrial Millimetre Wave Imaging and THz Remote Sensing’ in ‘Terahertz
Sensing Technology’, D. Woolard et al. eds, Selected Topics in Electronics and Systems vol 32, World
Scientific, 2004
42. R. Doyle, B. Lyons, A. Lettington, T. McEnroe, J. Walshe, J. McNaboe, P. Curtin and S Bleszynski, ‘Stand-off
detection of hidden threat objects on personnel at checkpoints and public areas using active millimetre-wave
imaging’, SPIE, 5619, pp. 90-97, 2004.
43. M. C. Kemp, A. Glauser, and C. Baker, ‘Recent developments in people screening using terahertz technology –
seeing the world through terahertz eyes’, SPIE, 6212, 2006.
44. Y. C. Shen, P. F. Taday, D. A. Newnham, M. C. Kemp and M Pepper, ‘3-D chemical mapping using terahertz
pulsed imaging’, SPIE, 5727, pp. 24-31, 2005
45. Y. Watanabe, K. Kawase, T, Ikari, H. Ito, Y. Ishikawa and H. Minamide, Appl. Phys. Lett., 83, p. 800, 2003

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6402 64020D-17

46. B. Ferguson and X. C. Zhang, ‘Materials for terahertz science and technology’, Nature Materials, 1, p. 26,
2002.
47. A. V. Raisanen, ‘Frequency multipliers for millimetre and submillimeter wavelengths’, Proc. IEEE, 80, p.
1842, 1992.
48. P. R. Coward and R. Appleby, ‘Development of an illumination chamber for indoor millimeter-wave imaging’,
SPIE, 5077, pp.54-61, 2003.
49. A. Tessman, ‘220GHz metamorphic HEMTs amplifier MMICs for high resolution imaging applications’, IEEE
J. Solid State Circuits, 40, p. 10, 2005.
50. D. H. Auston, ‘Picosecond optoelectronic switching and gating in silicon’ , Appl Phys. Lett. 26, p. 101, 1975.
51. P. R. Smith, D. H. Auston, and M. C. Nuss, ‘Subpicosecond photoconductive dipole antennas’, IEEE J.
Quantum Electron, 24, p. 255, 1988.
52. P. Uhd Jepsen, R. H. Jacobsen, S. R. Keiding, ‘Generation and detection of terahertz pulses from biased
semiconductor antennas’, J. Opt. Soc. Am. B, 13, pp. 2424-2436, 1996.
53. E. R. Brown, F. W. Smith, and K. A. McIntosh, ‘Coherent millimetre wave generation by heterodyne
conversion in low-temperature-grown GaAs photoconductors’, J. Appl. Phys., 73, p. 1480, 1993.
54. E. R. Brown, K. A. McIntosh, K. B. Nichols, and C. L. Dennis, ‘Photomixing up to 3.8 THz in low-
temperature-grown GaAs’, Appl. Phys. Lett., 66, p. 285, 1995.
55. S. Verghese, K. A. McIntosh, S. Calawa, W. F. Dinatale, E. K. Duerr, and K. A. Molvar, ‘Generation and
detection of coherent terahertz waves using two photomixers’, Appl. Phys. Lett., 73, p. 3824, 1998.
56. I. S. Gregory, W. R. Tribe, B. E. Cole, C. Baker, M. J. Evans, I. V. Bradley, E. H. Linfield, A. G. Davies, and
M. Missous, ‘Phase sensitive continuous-wave THz imaging using diode lasers’, Electron. Lett., 40, p. 143,
2004.
57. I. S. Gregory, W. R. Tribe, B. E. Cole, M. J. Evans, E. H. Linfield, A. G. Davies, and M. Missous, ‘Resonant
dipole antennas for continuous-wave terahertz photomixers’, Appl. Phys. Lett., 85, p. 1622, 2004.
58. A. G. Davies, E. H. Linfield, and M. B. Johnston, ‘The development of terahertz sources and their applications’,
Phys. Med. Biol., 47, p. 3679, 2002.
59. R. Köhler, A. Tredicucci, F. Beltram, H. E. Beere, E. H. Linfield, A. G. Davies, D. A. Ritchie, R. C. Iotti, and F.
Rossi, ‘Terahertz semiconductor-heterostructure laser’, Nature, 417, p. 156, 2002.
60. S. Kumar, B. S. Williams, Q. Hu, and J. L. Reno, ‘1.9-THz quantum-cascade lasers with one-well
Injector’, to appear in Appl. Phys. Lett. , 2006.
61. B. Williams, S. Kumar, Q. Hu and J. Reno, ‘Operation of terahertz quantum-cascade lasers at 164 K in pulsed
mode and at 117 K in continuous-wave mode’, Opt. Express, 13, p. 3331, 2005.
62. A. Staprans, E. McCune, and J. Ruetz, ‘High power linear beam tubes’, Proc. IEEE, 61, 299, 1973.
63. K. Kawase, M. Sato, T. Taniuchi, and H. Ito, ‘Coherent tunable terahertz-wave generation from LiNbO3 with
monolithic grating coupler’, Appl. Phys. Lett., 68, p. 2483, 1996.
64. K. Imai and K. Kawase, ‘A frequency-agile terahertz-wave parametric oscillator’, Optics Express, 8, p. 699,
2001.
65. K. Kawase, J.-I. Shikata and H. Ito, ‘Terahertz wave parametric source’, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys., 34, p. R1,
2001.
66. E. R. Mueller, Submillimeter wave lasers, Vol. 20, Wiley, 1999.
67. O. Astafiev, S. Komiyama, T. Kutsuwa, and V. Antonov, ‘Single-photon detector in the microwave range’,
Appl. Phys. Lett., 80, p. 4250, 2002.
68. C. Mann, ‘Solid State Detector Arrays for Terahertz Applications’, SPIE 6211, 2006.
69. www.brijot.com
70. R. N. Anderton, R Appleby, J.E. Beale, P. R. Coward and S. Price, ‘Security Scanning at 94GHz’, SPIE, 6211,
2006.
71. C. A. Martin and V. Kolinko, ‘Concealed weapons detection with an improved passive millimeterwave
imager’, SPIE, 5410, pp.252-259, 2004.
72. http://www.trexenterprises.com/Subsidiaries/sago.html
73. D. Sheen, D. McMakin and T. E. Hall, ‘Combined illumination cylindrical millimeter-wave imaging technique
for concealed weapon detection’, SPIE, 4032, pp. 52-60, 2000.
74. www.safeviewinc.com
75. P. Corredoura, Z. Baharav, B. Taber, G. Lee, ‘Millimeter-Wave Imaging System for Personnel Screening:
Scanning 107 Points a Second and Using No Moving Parts’, SPIE 6211, 2006.

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6402 64020D-18

76. http://www.darpa.mil/mto/swift
77. http://www.darpa.mil/mto/tift
78. http://solarsystem.dlr.de/terasec/index.shtml
79. A. W. M. Lee and Q. Hu, ‘Real-time THz imaging using QCLs and focal-plane array cameras’, Opt. Lett., 30, p.
2563, 2005.
80. S. Barbieri, J. Alton, C. Baker, T. Lo, H. Beere, and D. Ritchie, ‘Imaging with THz quantum cascade lasers
using a Schottky diode mixer’, Opt. Express 13, pp. 6497-6503, 2005.
81. E. N. Grossman, A. Luukanen and A. J. Miller, ‘Terahertz active direct detection imagers’, SPIE, 5411, pp. 68–
77, 2004.
82. A. Luukanen, A. J. Miller and E. N. Grossman, ‘Active millimeter-wave video rate imaging with a staring
120-element microbolometer array’, SPIE, 5410, pp. 195-201, 2004.
83. A. Luukanen, L. Grönberg, P. Helistö, J. S. Penttilä, H. Seppä, H. Sipola, C. R. Dietlein, E. N. Grossman, ‘An
array of antenna-coupled superconducting microbolometers for passive indoors real-time THz imaging’, SPIE,
6212, 2006.
84. E. N. Grossman, C.R. Dietlein and A. Luukanen, ‘Terahertz Circular Variable Filters’, Proc. 4th ESA
Workshop on Millimetre-wave Technology and Applications, pp.353-358, ESA Publications, Noordwijk, 2006.
85. H. Zhong, A.R.Y. Chen and X. C. Zhang, ‘THz wave standoff detection of explosive materials’, SPIE, 6212,
2006.
86. I. S. Gregory, W. R. Tribe, M. J. Evans, T. D. Drysdale, D. R. S. Cumming, and M. Missous, ‘Multi-channel
homodyne detection of continuous-wave terahertz radiation’, Appl. Phys. Lett., 87, p. 034106, 2005.
87. N. E. Alexander and A.H. Lettington, ‘Derivation of the Lorentzian probability model for use in constrained
image restoration’, J. Mod. Optics, 52, pp.,1893-1903, 2005.
88. A. H. Lettington, N.E Alexander and E. Boukouvala, ‘Constrained image restoration for use in passive mm-
wave imaging’, SPIE, 5410, pp. 278-289, 2004.
89. A. H. Lettington, N.E. Alexander, ‘Constrained image restoration applied to passive mm-wave images’, SPIE,
5573, pp. 334-343, 2004.
90. X. Xie, J. Dai and X.-C. Zhang, ‘Coherent Control of THz Wave Generation in Ambient Air’, Phys. Rev. Lett.,
96, p. 075005, 2006.
91. J. Dai, X. Xie and X.-C. Zhang, ‘Detection of Broadband Terahertz Waves with a Laser-Induced Plasma in
Gases’, to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett., 2006.

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6402 64020D-19