Terahertz imager gets funded

Researchers at theUniversity of Arizona (UA; Tucson, AZ, USA) College of Engineering have been awarded $530,000 to develop a new terahertz imaging system.

The US National Science Foundation made the award -- under its Major Research Instrumentation Program -- to fund the development of the terahertz spectral imager which will be housed in the university’s spectroscopy and imaging facilities.

An additional $238,000 from the UA College of Engineering and Office of the Senior Vice President for Research will bring total project funding to $768,000.

The custom-made spectral imager will emit electromagnetic radiation in the terahertz range and analyze how the spectra are absorbed and reflected by various materials, such as cell tissues and chemical compounds.

UA professor of electrical and computer engineering Richard Ziolkowski said that the new imager could prove especially useful in medical and pharmaceutical applications.

-- By Dave Wilson, Senior Editor, Vision Systems Design