Portable, Flexible Terahertz Scanner Prepared from Carbon Nanotubes

Terahertz rays that rest between the microwave and infrared bands of the electromagnetic spectrum can move through an extensive variety of substances without damaging them. As such, the terahertz cameras have excellent ability for non-invasive, big-resolution imaging. Lucrative application comprise disclosing hidden weapons, analysing explosives, checking for troubles in machined parts, among others.

But, traditional terahertz imaging technologies, “utilize inflexible substances and hence are adaptable just too flat samples,” says Yukio Kawano at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. So such imagers experience difficulties when scanning most real-time samples that possess 3D curvature greatly limiting their use, he confirms. For example, terahertz scanners at the security checkpoints require rotating detectors 360 degrees around human bodies to image all of them, an essential that makes such systems highly bulky.

Kawano and his team members devised their novel flexible terahertz imaging equipment from layers of carbon nanotubes that are pipes made of carbon only nanometres or billionths of a meter wide. At the room temperature, their imager could identify a band of terahertz rays, varying in frequency from 0.14 to 39 terahertz. This task marks “the primary realization of a flexible terahertz camera,” says Kawano.

The researchers introduced a portable terahertz scanner they could cloakaround objects. Utilizing, these scanners they could identify hidden items like metal washers or paper clips concealed behind the paper sheets or germanium plates or even find out a piece of chewing gum hidden in a box made with plastic. They could also search metal impurities in a plastic bottle and a problem in a syringe. Such findings suggest such scanner could identify use in “high-speed and multiple-view inspections of industrial products, particularly non-flat samples,” like pharmaceutical products and plastic bottles, says Kawano.

In addition to this, the researchers introduced a wearable scanner that could easily detect terahertz rays released by the human hand. “The wearable terahertz imaging of human hand without need of any external terahertz sources is an integral and significant step for the future applications of medical use,” says Kawano. For example, such scanner could assist inspect an extensive range of things comprising cancer cells, tooth decay as well as sweat glands, enhancing the ‘real-life monitoring of regular health conditions,” confirms Kawano.

Conclusion

Now as confirmed by Kawano the entire group is planning to integrate the terahertz camera with a powerful signal read-out circuit and also wireless communication equipment into a singular chip. With this process, it would be feasible for them to generate and introduce a high-speed terahertz inspection system. It has also been confirmed by Kawano that the real-time medical supervising applications are our further step towards this study. The further details of the study are still to be disclosed.