Peter H. Siegel

Terahertz reflector antenna system for a scanned and multiplexed FMCW radar

A Terahertz imaging radar with extremely wide bandwidth to achieve cm-scale resolution in three dimensions at a standoff range of 4 m has recently been demonstrated [1]. The driving application for this technology is the detection of weapons or contraband concealed by clothing or other material that is largely transparent to the non-ionizing THz radiation. For weapons detection, long standoff range and fast imaging acquisition are key system goals. We are currently working towards the next-generation imaging system, aiming at a 25 m standoff range and image acquisition times of few seconds per image. In order to achieve such requirements, we are relying on a mechanical scanning and a time multiplexing technique of two pixels. A much more elegant solution to the fast-imaging problem would be to fabricate a focal plane array that would acquire information from several pixels simultaneously. However, THz heterodyne detector array technology is still not available at this time [2].