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Terahertz Imaging: Timeline and Future Prospects

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Terahertz Devices, Circuits and Systems

Abstract

Terahertz imaging is the science of imaging that uses terahertz radiation. Electromagnetic radiation between the frequency of 0.1 and 10 THz is called terahertz radiation. Terahertz imaging has been around for approximately 30 years now, giving us an appropriate moment to review what has been achieved so far in this field and what new prospects lie ahead. This chapter will emphasize the fields that should be using terahertz imaging and will focus upon more new fields that should embrace this technology. Also called T-ray imaging, terahertz imaging has several applications like non-invasive medical imaging, spectrometers, and optics. Beneficial for 3D imaging, it can be used for imaging on a cellular level of biological tissues and submicron semiconductor devices. Researchers have used terahertz imaging on nanoresolution levels. The industry is shifting to use terahertz radiations for real-time imaging. Commercial terahertz imaging applications extend to weld joint inspection, food product examination, and investigation of birefringence. This chapter will also analyze the challenges and opportunities of producing commercially viable equipment using terahertz imaging technology. This chapter will introduce terahertz technology, its importance and relevance, and some successful terahertz imaging applications. Then a review of the timeline of events in the terahertz imaging history will show how much the technology has progressed so far and what more lies ahead. An analysis of how terahertz competes with the existing technology in several fields of applications will be shown. Then a detailed explanation of the terahertz imaging technology will be presented so that the researchers can understand what goes beyond the picture of this imaging technology. Further, a few application ideas will be presented where this technology can be used both from an academic and industrial point of view. Finally, the chapter will conclude with a discussion of challenges for this technology with some insights on how they can be handled.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Mr. Achyut Srivastava, Development Engineer, Hero MotoCorp, for his help with the illustrations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology Jais, Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, 229304, India

    Gargi Srivastava

  2. Department of Electronics Engineering, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology Jais, Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, 229304, India

    Sajal Agarwal

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  1. Gargi Srivastava
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  2. Sajal Agarwal
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Correspondence to Gargi Srivastava .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, IMPS College of Engineering and Technology, Malda, West Bengal, India

    Sudipta Das

  2. Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, VIT Bhopal University, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India

    Anveshkumar Nella

  3. Department of Computer Engineering, Marwadi University, Rajkot, Gujarat, India

    Shobhit K. Patel

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Srivastava, G., Agarwal, S. (2022). Terahertz Imaging: Timeline and Future Prospects. In: Das, S., Nella, A., Patel, S.K. (eds) Terahertz Devices, Circuits and Systems. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4105-4_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4105-4_16

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