Abstract
The millimeter wave (MMW) band of frequencies extends from 30 GHz to 300 GHz, with some fuzziness on both ends of this spectrum. The terahertz (THz) band extends from about 200 GHz to about 30 THz, despite the fact that the lower frequencies in this range are not strictly 1012 Hz or higher. These bands are also variously called submillimeter, far-infrared, and near-millimeter. In recent years, there has been some degree of hype associated with the capabilities of systems operating in these bands. Sometimes exorbitant claims have been made relative to the ability of these systems to see through walls, detect buried structures, and detect cancer cells, for example. In this chapter we shall examine some of these clams and assess their validity. We shall find that MMW and THz systems can do some amazing things, some of them not related to the above claims, and that there is substantial promise of even more interesting results. In this chapter we begin by discussing these atmospheric limitations, since they permeate the whole technology of MMW, sub-MMW, and THz technology. We then discuss MMW and THz sources, detectors, optics, and systems in separate sections. Finally, we present some results obtained using sensors operating in these bands. Perhaps the most interesting of these results demonstrate the capability to image objects at resolutions as good as λ/100, where λ is wavelength. These measurements show the connection between this sensor technology and applications to security.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
K. C. Allen and H. J. Liebe. “Tropospheric Absorption and Dispersion of Millimeter and Submillimeter Waves” IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., Vol. 31, pp. 221–223, January 1983.
J. H. Van Vleck and V. F. Weisskopf. “On the Shape of Collision-Broadened Lines”, Rev. Mod. Phys., Vol. 17, pp. 227–236, April-July 1945.
H. J. Liebe, T. Manabe, G. A. Hu.ord. “Millimeter-Wave Attenuation and Delay Rates Due to Fog/Cloud Conditions”, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., Vol. 37, pp. 1617–1623, December 1989.
H. J. Liebe and D. H. Layton. NTIA Report 87–224 National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Boulder, CO, 1987.
R. S. Lawrence and J. W. Strohbehn. “A Survey of Clear-Air Propagation Effects Relevant to Optical Communications”, Proc. IEEE, Vol. 58, pp. 1523– 1545, 1970.
R. W. McMillan, R. A. Bohlander, G. R. Ochs, R. J. Hill, S. F. Cli.ord. “Millimeter Wave Atmospheric Turbulence Measurements: Preliminary Results and Instrumentation for Future Measurements”, Optical Engineering, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 32–39, January/February 1983.
R. J. Hill, R. A. Bohlander, S. F. Cli.ord, R. W. McMillan, J. T. Priestley, W. P. Schoenfeld. “Turbulence-Induced Millimeter-Wave Scintillation Compared with Micrometeorological Measurements”, IEEE Trans. Geosciences and Remote Sensing, Vol. 26, No. 3, pp. 330–342, May 1988.
G.F. Brand. “Development and Applications of Frequency Tunable, Submillimeter Wave Gyrotrons”, Int. J. Infrared and Millimeter Waves Vol. 16, pp. 879–887, 1995.
A.A. Tolkachev, B. A. Levitan, G. K. Solovjev, V. V. Veytsel, V. E. Farber. “A Megawatt Power Millimeter-Wave Phased-Array Radar”, IEEE AES Systems Magazine, pp. 25–31, July 2000.
A. F. Krupnov, M. Yu. Tretyakov, Yu A. Dryagin, and S. A. Volokhov. “Extension of the Range of Microwave Spectroscopy up to 1.3 THz”, J. Mol. Spetrosc., Vol. 170, 279–284 1995.
V. L. Vaks, V. V. Khodos, and E. V. Spivak. “A Nonstationary Microwave Spectrometer”, Review of Scienti.c Instruments, Vol. 70, Issue 8, pp. 3447– 3453, August 1999.
A. F. Krupnov and A. V. Burenin. “New Methods in Submillimeter Microwave Spectroscopy”, Mol. Spectrosc: Mod. Research II, K. Narahar: Rao, ed. Academic Press, New York. (1976).
Introduction to Extended Interaction Oscillators, Data Sheet 3445 5M 11/75, Varian Associates of Canada, Ltd. (Now CPI), Georgetown, Ontario, Canada, 1975.
E. Alekseev and D. Pavlidis. “GaN-Based Gunn Diodes: Their Frequency and Power Performance and Experimental Considerations” www.eecs.umich.edu.
www.virginiadiodes.com
J. W. Dees. “Detection and Harmonic Generation in the Sub-Millimeter Wavelength Region”, Microwave J., Vol. 9, pp. 48–55, 1966.
K. M. Evenson, J. S. Wells, F. R. Petersen, B. L. Danielson, G. W. Day, R. L. Barger, and J. L. Hall, “Speed of Light from Direct Frequency and Wavelength Measurements of the Methane-Stabilized Laser”, Phys. Rev. Lett. Vol. 29, 1346–1349 1972.
R. E. Forsythe, V. T. Brady, and G. T. Wrixon. “Development of a 183 GHz Subharmonic Mixer”, IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest, Orlando, FL, May 1978.
R. W. McMillan, C. W. Trussell, Jr., R. A. Bohlander, J. C. Butterworth, R. E. Forsythe. “An Experimental 225 GHz Pulsed Coherent Radar”, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory and Techniques, Vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 555–562, March 1991.
A. Vystavkin, D. Chouvaev, T. Claeson, D. Golubev, V., N. Kardashev, A., V. Kurt, L., M. Tarasov, A. Trubnikov, M. Willander. “Terahertz Andreev Reflection Based Normal Metal Hot-Electron Bolometer for the Cryogenic Telescope of the International Space Station”, The 10th International Symposium on Space Terahertz Technology, Proceedings, pp 372–389, University of Virginia, March 16–18, 1999.
“U3000 Uncooled Microbolometer Infrared Sensor”, Data Sheet. The Boeing Company, Anaheim, CA, 1998.
P. F. Goldsmith. Quasioptical Systems, IEEE Press, New York, 1997.
J. M. Schuchardt, J. A. Stratigos, J. A. Gagliano, D. O. Gallentine, J. L. King. “Dual Frequency Multi-Channel Millimeter Wave Radiometers for High Altitude Observation of Atmospheric Water Vapor”, 1979 MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest, pp. 540–542.
P. F. Goldsmith, C.-T. Hsieh, G. R. Huguenin, J. Kapitzky, and E. L. Moore. “Focal Plane Imaging Systems for Millimeter Wavelengths”, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory and Techniques, Vol. 41, pp. 1664-1675, October 1993.
www.army-technology.com/projects/apache/
www.millivision.com
Private Communication, Thermotrex Corporation, San Diego, CA.
www.sae.org/aeromag/techupdate 12–99/05.htm
http://www.st.northropgrumman.com/velocium/
R. W. McMillan. “A Horizontal Atmospheric Temperature Sounder: Applications to Remote Sensing of Atmospheric Hazards”, Int. J. Infrared and Millimeter Waves, Vol. 14, No. 5, pp. 931–948, 1993.
E. Brown. University of California at Los Angeles, Private Communication, 2002.
R. W. McMillan, Osborne Milton, Jr., M. C. Hetzler, R. S. Hyde, W. R. Owens. “Detection of Concealed Weapons Using Far-Infrared Bolometer Arrays”, Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Infrared and Millimeter Waves, Beijing, China, 12–15 September 2000.
F. C. DeLucia. Ohio State University, Private Communication, 2004.
K. R. Armstrong and F. J. Low. “Far-Infrared Filters Utilizing Small Particle Scattering and Antireflection Coatings”, Applied Optics, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 425–430, February 1974.
J. E. Peters and P. D. Ownby. “Far Infrared Transmission of Diamond Structure Semiconductor Single Crystals-Silicon and Germanium”, Optical Engineering, Vol. 38, No. 11, pp. 1924–1931, November 1999.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2006 Springer
About this paper
Cite this paper
McMillan, R.W. (2006). TERAHERTZ IMAGING, MILLIMETER-WAVE RADAR. In: Byrnes, J., Ostheimer, G. (eds) Advances in Sensing with Security Applications. NATO Security Through Science Series, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4295-7_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4295-7_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-4284-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-4295-9
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)