Terahertz-after decades of disappointment, the promise of a Sea change

Tonight, I saw Coherent's, web-link and wanted to share it with readers of this blog, it's a great introduction for my observations about the "state of this virgin industry".

Terahertz LasersReliable terahertz operation for commercial users.








Coherent’s team holds extensive expertise in optically pumped THz generation.  With our systems capability, this team has designed and developed a THz local oscillator that was launched into orbit and is currently operational on a satellite circling the globe (see the paper below). Optically pumped THz generation offers the advantage of both high power and CW operation, ideal for development of solutions for security, non-destructive testing, imaging, and medical applications. Contact Coherent if you have a high power source requirement for commercial applications and would like to leverage Coherent’s expertise in this area.
http://www.coherent.com/products/?779/Terahertz-Lasers

Seeing this link, reminded me, that I haven't mentioned Coherent, which is definitely a large player in the commercial development of THz, and I encourage investors to do your due diligence in regard to their THz applications and development. Keeping the "targets", and players, on our radar charts is certainly something I want to accomplish here. However, in the long run, in my opinion the "Ocean" that is emerging terahertz, is so very large, that catching just a small wave will be sufficient for most investors.

So what about the title to this piece? Those new to reading about THz, may not realize the very difficult time, science has has attempting to "harness" or make THz viable, in University laboratories, much less on the factory floor. THz electromagnetic frequencies, are found in the range between microwaves and infrared. Scientific instrumentation used to harness frequencies below THz, was based upon the electronic paradigm, whereas above it, the paradigm was in photonics. The THz near-IR range, lay in a gap, where conventional science and it's tools, had great difficulty dealing with, because a stable THz beam could not be generated, and even when it was, the beam was hard to detect with the then, current tools.
 (An excellent historical article on Terahertz Technology, was written by Dr. Peter Siegel, whose current webpage is linked here:

http://terahertztechnology.blogspot.com/2011/01/current-terahertz-research-by-dr-peter.html,

can be found online, published by IEEE, in March of 2002).

If you read the articles on the Coherent site, they provide concrete examples of how far the technology has progressed,  and it provides a nice segue to the second part of this post, the promise of THz.

THz, a Sea change


People,  (investors) search high and low for a "niche" market. Once, they are discovered, people wonder why no one noticed them before. Even a small "niche" in a world market can be hugely profitable.
When I speak about the promise of Terahertz, I'm not thinking about a small niche. No. I'm thinking about a broad transforming technology, a true "Sea change". A technology whose promise is so very large that getting your mind around how much it will change the world we live in, is truly difficult to now grasp.

I've watched this field emerge and evolve since 2005. Advanced Photonix's commercial sale last month was the first of several million contract sales that will be made in the next decade. This is not exaggeration, in my opinion, and while I'm not suggesting API,  will make a majority of those sales, it along with Bridge12,  TeraView, Advantest, Coherent, Zomega, and a host of other companies new and old, will emerge to supply old and new technologies based upon THz. Quantum Optics, Quantum Information Sciences, Spintronics, Quantum Nuclear Dynamics, Non-Linear Spectroscopies, new applications in chemistry and biology at the DNA, and molecular level are just some of the areas that THz will open-up, while it will fundamentally alter our existing standards on quality control, for all products you currently use, from the wood in your tables, to the pills you consume, the vehicles you drive, or fly, to the communications you use. Because it is non-ionizing, it can replace or supplement existing medical diagnostic scanning tools, and can map on the molecular and or chemical level. It has the potential to change everything we have invented to date.


As always, take my words with a huge "grain of salt". Do your own due diligence, and remember that watched pots, seldom boil. When this one does, watch out!
1/28/11
Postscript: My friend Jack, aka KaptinJ, sent me this link from 1999, which I thought was worth including in this post, for it's historical value, and relevance to the current post.  In posting this I recognize Picometrix and Coherent, have no current association, as Pico is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Advanced Photonix.
http://www.photonicsonline.com/article.mvc/Coherent-Laser-Picometrix-Team-For-T-Ray-Syst-0001



Coherent Laser, Picometrix Team For T-Ray System
December 29, 1999
Picometrix Inc. (Ann Arbor, MI) and Coherent, Inc., Laser Group (Santa Clara, CA) have joined forces to develop and commercialize a time-domain terahertz (T- Ray) system.
The T-Ray technology was initially developed at Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs (Murray Hill, NJ), and subsequently transferred to Picometrix. In terahertz imaging, femtosecond laser pulses incident on the material under test trigger terahertz pulses with picosecond duration, which are then detected and evaluated. The technology has a variety of applications, including materials inspection, fault detection, moisture sensing, biomedical imaging, chemical reaction analysis, and environmental and pollution control.

Using the Coherent Vitesse laser as the femtosecond optical excitation source, Picometrix has developed a T-Ray System with up to 2-THz bandwidth in a fiber-pigtailed transceiver configuration. Both companies plan to collaborate in manufacturing and marketing of the T-Ray technology. Current activities include optimization of the T-Ray system design, in conjunction with applications development with a variety of potential system users. The two companies seek commercial partners for the technology.

Terahertz was needed to prevent the Russian Airport blast

My Note: Looks like I spoke too soon today, about no "news" related to THz today.
I was actually writing the last piece when news of the Russian airport explosion, came over the wires. What a horrible human tragedy. (I offer my condolences to those who lost loved ones, or suffered injuries).
The Advanced Photonix, hand-held wand, coupled with the T-Ray 4000,  would have likely prevented this explosion. It's almost certain the newly proposed "anomaly detection system"(see related story link  below), would have prevented this. Let's just hope that the work with IQT, to develop this low-cost anomaly detection system, with API and the Department of Transportation Administration,  is making progress, and it can be implemented in major airports across the world in the very near future.
 http://terahertztechnology.blogspot.com/2010/11/advanced-photonix-to-engineer-low-cost.html

By NATALIYA VASILYEVA and IVAN SEKRETAREV, Associated Press Nataliya Vasilyeva And Ivan Sekretarev, Associated Press – 8 mins ago

MOSCOW – An explosion ripped through the international arrivals hall at Moscow's busiest airport on Monday, killing at least 31 people and wounding up to 145 as it coated the terminal in blood. The Russian president called it a terror attack.
The mid-afternoon explosion at Domodedovo Airport may have been caused by a suicide bomber, the state RIA Novosti news agency reported. Other Russian media reports said the bomb was packed with shrapnel, screws and ball bearings.
The terminal at Domodedovo Airport was engulfed by smoke and splattered with body parts. Amateur video posted on YouTube showed a pile of bodies on the floor, and other bodies scattered around. Luggage lay strewn across the ground and several small fires burned. A dazed man in a suit pushed a baggage cart through the carnage.
"From the preliminary information we have, it was a terror attack," President Dmitry Medvedev told officials in a televised briefing, saying it was clear that security had been breached

Related articles

• "RUSSIA: Suicide Bomber Kills Dozens, Injures Over 100 At Moscow Airport" and related posts (joemygod.blogspot.com)

Wet Paint No Barrier to Timely, Accurate Measure of Coating Thickness

A newly demonstrated technology providing
the first-ever nondestructive means to
measure the thickness of specialty paint
coatings during their application will
generate substantial savings for the Air
Force. An AFRL materials engineering team
successfully demonstrated the integration
of a paint spray robot with a sensor—
specifically, a miniature Class I, Division
1–compliant time domain (TD) terahertz
(THz) sensor—for real-time cure monitoring
of coating materials as they are applied to
aircraft surfaces. By ensuring the application
of coatings to the correct thickness the first
time, the integrated spray booth/sensing
capability will eliminate costly sanding,
rework, and/or reapplication tasks, increasing
confidence in coating materials and helping
to ensure that production schedules—in this
case, for the F-35—are met.
Aircraft maintainers commonly apply
specialty coatings via robot or by hand.
Despite the critical relation of coating
thickness to material performance,
maintainers have historically relied on
destructive tests, costly and inaccurate
witness coupons, or otherwise limited and
unreliable measurement systems—all of
which require contact with a dry coating
surface. To address the issue, AFRL
partnered with Picometrix and Northrop
Grumman to conduct initial testing and
demonstration of a noncontact TD THz
instrument for in-process cure monitoring
of specialty material coatings developed
under an earlier, Small Business Innovation
Research (SBIR) Phase II effort. With the
aid of computer simulations, the AFRL/
industry team determined the optimal size
of the sensing package, as well as the best
location for incorporating the sensor into the
automated spray system.
Key to development success was the
capacity to mate the sensor to the spray
system without altering the production
spray path or qualified procedures. While
successful laboratory demonstrations of
the integrated system occurred earlier in
the program, the achievement of comparable
results in a production environment
was critical for program completion
and subsequent technology transition.
Ultimately, a production demonstration
confirmed that the measurement system
could be successfully mounted to the
robot and accurately measure wet coating
thickness during a spray event. Additional
data collection, validation tests, and system
deployment activities are slated to occur
under a SBIR Phase II extension effort
ongoing through Fiscal Year 2011.
Meanwhile, the TD THz instrument is
undergoing development for operation in the
production line/quality assurance process
at Northrop Grumman’s paint booth facility
in Palmdale, California. Recent testing
demonstrated the TD THz system installation
concept (i.e., placement of the control unit
in the control room, as well as routing of
the umbilical cord to the gantry and the
robot arm). Researchers achieved sensor
operation exhibiting no loss in fidelity or
electrical interference with the sensor
signal and thus enabling high-quality
measurements over the range of sensor-tilt
angles of interest.

Terahertz and measurement of oil, gasoline and fluid particle accumulation/ streams

Corning patent
Corning patent recognizing use of API/Picometrix T-Ray 4000
METHODS OF CHARACTERIZING AND MEASURING PARTICULATE FILTER ACCUMULATION

Abstract
Methods of characterizing and measuring particulate accumulation in a family of particulate filters (10) are disclosed. The disclosure can be applied to diesel, gasoline and natural gas fueled engines, fluid streams bearing dust, and chemical and biological substances such as may be found in laboratory fluids, for example, air. In one embodiment, the disclosure is directed to measuring diesel particulate accumulation in a family of diesel particulate filters. The methods include measuring calibration complex terahertz transmission spectra (P.sub.C(f)) of at least a portion (17) of at least one particulate or diesel particulate filter in the family for different known particulate or diesel particulate amounts (A.sub.DP). The method also involves performing a partial least squares (PLS) analysis on the calibration complex terahertz transmission spectra to establish a calibration relationship between the complex terahertz transmission spectra and the particulate or diesel particulate amounts. The complex transmission spectrum of a subject particulate filter or diesel particulate filter having an unknown amount of particulate or diesel particulate accumulation is then determined and compared to the linear calibration relationship to establish a measured amount of particulates or diesel particulates. The methods include using a terahertz (THz) system (100) to obtain the complex terahertz transmission spectra for the calibration and subject particulate or diesel particulate filters.
Inventors:
Gunasekaran; Natarajan; (Painted Post, NY) ; Schneider; Vitor Marino; (Painted Post, NY) ; Smith; Charlene Marie; (Corning, NY) ; Williams; Carlo Anthony Kosik; (Painted Post, NY)
Correspondence Name and Address:
CORNING INCORPORATED SP-TI-3-1 CORNING NY 14831 US

Example THz-TDS systems are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,710,430 and Pre-Grant Published U.S. Patent Application No. 2008/0137068, which patent and which patent application are incorporated by reference herein. A suitable THz-TDS system adaptable for use in carrying out the methods of the present invention is the T-Ray 4000.TM. system available from Picometrix Inc., of Ann Arbor, Mich.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/20100108890.pdf

Another new use for Terahertz-thanks numbrcruntchr

Terahertz Waves Are Effective Probes for IC Heat Barriers

Credit: Shutterstock

By modifying a commonly used commercial infrared spectrometer to allow operation at long-wave terahertz frequencies, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) discovered an efficient new approach to measure key structural properties of nanoscale metal-oxide films used in high-speed integrated circuits. Their technique, described in a recent paper,* could become an important quality-control tool to help monitor semiconductor manufacturing processes and evaluate new insulating materials.

Chip manufacturers deposit complicated mazes of layered metallic conductor and semiconconductor films interlaced with insulating metal oxide nanofilms to form transistors and conduct heat. Because high electrical leakage and excess heat can cause nanoscale devices to operate inefficiently or fail, manufacturers need to know the dielectric and mechanical properties of these nanofilms to predict how well they will perform in smaller, faster devices.

Manufacturers typically assay the structure of metal oxide films using X-ray spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy, both tedious and time-consuming processes. NIST researchers discovered that they could extract comparable levels of detail about the structural characteristics of these thin films by measuring their absorption of terahertz radiation, which falls between the infrared and microwave spectral regions.

Although terahertz spectroscopy is known to be very sensitive to crystal and molecular structure, the degree to which the metal oxide films absorbed the terahertz light was a surprise to NIST researchers.

“No one thought nanometer-thick films could be detected at all using terahertz spectroscopy, and I expected that the radiation would pass right through them,” says Ted Heilweil, a NIST chemist and co-author of the paper. “Contrary to these expectations, the signals we observed were huge.”

The NIST team found that the atoms in the films they tested move in concert and absorb specific frequencies of terahertz radiation corresponding to those motions. From these absorbed frequencies the team was able to extrapolate detailed information about the crystalline and amorphous composition of the metal oxide films, replete with structures that could affect their function.

The team’s experiments showed that a 40 nanometer thick hafnium oxide film grown at 581 kelvin (307 degrees Celsius) had an amorphous structure with crystalline regions spread throughout; nanofilms grown at lower temperatures, however, were consistently amorphous. According to Heilweil, an approximately 5 nanometer film thickness is the detection limit of the terahertz method, and the efficacy of the technique depends to some degree on the type of metal oxide, though the group noted that all metal-oxide materials surveyed exhibit distinct spectral characteristics.

* E. Heilweil, J. Maslar, W. Kimes, N. Bassim and P. Schenck. Characterization of metal-oxide nanofilm morphologies and composition by terahertz transmission spectroscopy. Optics Letters. 34 (9), 1360–1362 (2009).

Media Contact: Mark Esser, mark.esser@nist.gov, (301) 975-8735