Iwao Hosako at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology and Naoki Oda at the Guidance and Electro-Optics Division of NEC Corp. have developed a terahertz (THz) camera that operates at video frame rates to provide stand-off imaging for search-and-rescue in fire disasters and also label-free biomaterial detection. The camera was first reported online in the SPIE Newsroom.
The camera incorporates a quantum-cascade laser light source and a microbolometer focal-plane array and is based on one previously designed by the researchers, but with improved power and sensitivity. THz imaging offers many potential advantages over visible and infrared imaging but designing practical systems has proved expensive and many applications remain to be developed. The researchers eventually hope to develop imaging systems useful in a range of applications from preventive health care to quality control, surgery, and nondestructive evaluation.
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