T-Ray Scanner

Engineers at Caltech have developed a small, inexpensive silicon chip that can generate terahertz (THz) waves – a form of high frequency electromagnetic radiation that can penetrate objects without the damaging effects that X-rays and microwaves can produce.

THz waves operate at frequencies 300 times the speed of traditional CMOS chips (between microwaves and far-infrared), and can be used to penetrate packaging, render images, detect chemical fingerprints of drugs or explosives and even locate tumors in the body. However, existing THz scanners require multiple lasers and lenses, making them bulky and expensive to produce. The ability to incorporate the microchips into low-cost circuitry for handheld devices could enable a broad range of new applications for terahertz waves, including security, medicine, communications and gaming.