Prospects for manufacturing security scanners capable of detecting explosives

Using a 1 pixel camera and Terahertz, a team of physicists at the University of Sussex has come up with a detailed plan that could lead to the development of airport security scanners capable of detecting explosives.

Luana Olivieri, PhD student and doctor Juan Sebastian Totero Gongora, a researcher on photonics at GS's Emergent Photocopy Laboratory. Marco Peccianti and TS. Alessia Pasquazi has found an innovative way to collect with high precision not only the shape of the object, but also the chemical composition of the object by using a special 1-pixel camera capable of operating at Terahertz frequency (THz).

Although research at this stage is almost theoretical, scientists have come up with a new concept of imaging called Nonlinear Ghost Imaging with the ability to produce more detailed images than studies. before. New research has been published in the scientific journal ACS Photonics.

THz radiation can easily penetrate some common materials like paper, clothes and plastic.

Dr. Juan Sebastian Totero Gongora said: "Their method of creating a new kind of image is completely different from what you get from a conventional 1 pixel camera because it provides a lot of information about the object. Moreover, the picture The resulting image has a higher resolution ".

Terahertz radiation lies between the microwave and infrared in the electromagnetic spectrum, which has a much larger wavelength of visible light. Radiation THz can easily penetrate a number of popular materials such as paper, clothing and plastics that lead to the development of technology for application in security inspection and production control operations, allowing people to Observe inside objects and packaging. Radiation causes a different reaction to biological samples, allowing researchers to classify materials that are nearly indistinguishable by visible light.

Scientists believe that the THz wave has great potential in developing important applications such as explosives detection, medical diagnostics, quality control in production and food safety. However, camera manufacturing is stable and cost-effective as well as identifying smaller objects than difficult wavelengths. But using a new method, the team found a way to overcome those limitations.

While previous research shone multiple color patterns of laser light into objects to extract images, in this study, scientists illuminated objects with color patterns of THz containing colors. wide spectrum.

1 pixel camera (instead of the usual camera containing many popular commercial pixels) can capture light reflected by objects. In the new study, the scientists discovered that the camera could detect how light pulses change by objects (even when THz pulses appear very short). By combining this information with the shape determined by the samples, the shape and nature of the object has been shown. Research results are a strong improvement of old technologies and can have a big impact outside the THz camera field.