T-Rays Advances Could Lead to Tricorder Devices

Previously, we wrote that the X-Prize has announced The Qualcomm Tricorder Prize.  Now, Scientists have developed a new way to create electromagnetic Terahertz (THz) waves (T-rays) — the technology behind full-body security scanners. Their new stronger and more efficient continuous wave T-rays could be used to make better medical scanning gadgets and may one day lead to innovations similar to the Tricorder.

In the study, researchers from the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), a research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore, and Imperial College London have made T-rays into a much stronger directional beam than was previously thought possible, and at room-temperature conditions.

This a breakthrough should allow future T-ray systems to be smaller, more portable, easier to operate, and much cheaper than current devices.

“T-rays promise to revolutionize medical scanning to make it faster and more convenient, potentially relieving patients from the inconvenience of complicated diagnostic procedures and the stress of waiting for accurate results,” said research co-author Stefan Maier, a visiting scientist at A*STAR’s IMRE and Professor in the Department of Physics at Imperial College London.

The researchers demonstrated that it is possible to produce a strong beam of T-rays by shining light of differing wavelengths on a pair of electrodes — two pointed strips of metal separated by a 100 nanometer gap on top of a semiconductor wafer. 


The team's paper, "Greatly enhanced continuous-wave terahertz emission by nano-electrodes in a photoconductive photomixer," is published in the journal Nature Photonics.