University of Wollongong looks to future with T-ray vision
Superman had X-ray vision. Now the University of Wollongong has T-ray vision.
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Pictured with a Terahertz imaging apparatus is Research Assistant, Mr Stuart Hargreaves (foreground) and Team Leader, Associate Professor Roger Lewis from UOW’s Faculty of Engineering |
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A team led by Associate Professor Roger Lewis from the Faculty of Engineering has created a ‘camera’ that produces images using terahertz radiation instead of visible light.
“T-rays penetrate common packaging materials like paper and plastic and so can be used to see through these,” said Professor Lewis, pointing to a T-ray image of a $50 note inside a sealed envelope and another that reveals the inner workings of a door-lock swipe card. “The implications for security are enormous.”
The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has invited a consortium, including Professor Lewis, to prepare a full proposal on T-ray technology and its impact on national security.
This coincides with a recent announcement by the Commonwealth Bank that the city of Wollongong has been chosen as one of only three sites in Australia to trial a new ‘contactless’ credit card called MasterCard PayPass.
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T-ray and visible images of the new ‘contactless’ credit card |
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Professor Lewis and his team have been using this innovative T-ray technology to ‘look inside’ the cards and identify the working element, which can’t be seen by the naked eye. The T-rays allow the team to ‘see’ the embedded e-tag in the credit card, just as x-rays can ‘see’ bones in a body.
But just how is a T-ray different from an X-ray?
“X-rays need a large contrast in density, such as between flesh and bone, to make a good image,” said Professor Lewis.
“T-rays respond to molecular vibrations and can even distinguish particular chemical species. T-rays are also very sensitive to water so there are potential applications across living systems — from agriculture to zoology.”
“It has been a great team effort,” said Professor Lewis. “Andrew Scobie (Faculty Workshop) made the mechanical stage and Peter Ihnat (Physics Professional Officer) designed the electronic controller and base software. Stuart Hargreaves (Research Assistant) has put it all together and greatly extended the software.”
The group first made a T-ray imager using a broad range of frequencies. Next they used a single frequency, from a terahertz laser. Now they are working on a third-generation instrument using time-domain spectroscopy, which Professor Lewis says will produce even richer images.
Source: University of Wollongong.