* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Saturday, August 23, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    How to watch ‘F1: The Movie’ on Prime Video – About Amazon

    Experience the Thrill: How to Stream ‘F1: The Movie’ on Prime Video

    FOX One is now available on Prime Video: Here’s everything to know – About Amazon

    FOX One is now available on Prime Video: Here’s everything to know – About Amazon

    What Are Our Predictions for Taylor Swift’s ‘Life of a Showgirl’ Based on What She’s Told Us So Far? – yahoo.com

    Uncover the Hidden Surprises in Taylor Swift’s ‘Life of a Showgirl’ – Can You Decode Her Clues?

    Bama Dining Serving Up New Food, Entertainment – UA News Center

    Bama Dining Launches Thrilling New Food and Entertainment Experiences

    The latest on Williams-Brice Stadium renovations, entertainment district – On3

    Discover the Thrilling New Upgrades Coming to Williams-Brice Stadium and Its Vibrant Entertainment District!

    1000+ Entertainment Leaders Release Open Letter Criticizing TIFF’s Handling of Film – Creative Community for Peace

    1000+ Entertainment Leaders Release Open Letter Criticizing TIFF’s Handling of Film – Creative Community for Peace

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Alcorn State awarded grant to boost STEM with VR technology – WJTV

    Alcorn State Secures Grant to Transform STEM Education Through Cutting-Edge VR Technology

    Hyundai: The Only Way To Beat China Is To Embrace Technology – InsideEVs

    Hyundai’s Bold Strategy to Outpace China with Cutting-Edge Technology

    Teaching older adults how to use technology – WWNY

    Empowering Older Adults to Master Technology with Confidence

    Denver man receives pacemaker using new technology – CBS News

    Denver Man’s Life Transformed by Revolutionary Pacemaker Technology

    Morgan County Rescue Squad is using new technology to recover people missing in the water faster – WAFF

    Morgan County Rescue Squad is using new technology to recover people missing in the water faster – WAFF

    YSU to celebrate launch of new radiology technology program – WKBN.com

    YSU Launches Exciting New Radiology Technology Program Celebration

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    How to watch ‘F1: The Movie’ on Prime Video – About Amazon

    Experience the Thrill: How to Stream ‘F1: The Movie’ on Prime Video

    FOX One is now available on Prime Video: Here’s everything to know – About Amazon

    FOX One is now available on Prime Video: Here’s everything to know – About Amazon

    What Are Our Predictions for Taylor Swift’s ‘Life of a Showgirl’ Based on What She’s Told Us So Far? – yahoo.com

    Uncover the Hidden Surprises in Taylor Swift’s ‘Life of a Showgirl’ – Can You Decode Her Clues?

    Bama Dining Serving Up New Food, Entertainment – UA News Center

    Bama Dining Launches Thrilling New Food and Entertainment Experiences

    The latest on Williams-Brice Stadium renovations, entertainment district – On3

    Discover the Thrilling New Upgrades Coming to Williams-Brice Stadium and Its Vibrant Entertainment District!

    1000+ Entertainment Leaders Release Open Letter Criticizing TIFF’s Handling of Film – Creative Community for Peace

    1000+ Entertainment Leaders Release Open Letter Criticizing TIFF’s Handling of Film – Creative Community for Peace

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Alcorn State awarded grant to boost STEM with VR technology – WJTV

    Alcorn State Secures Grant to Transform STEM Education Through Cutting-Edge VR Technology

    Hyundai: The Only Way To Beat China Is To Embrace Technology – InsideEVs

    Hyundai’s Bold Strategy to Outpace China with Cutting-Edge Technology

    Teaching older adults how to use technology – WWNY

    Empowering Older Adults to Master Technology with Confidence

    Denver man receives pacemaker using new technology – CBS News

    Denver Man’s Life Transformed by Revolutionary Pacemaker Technology

    Morgan County Rescue Squad is using new technology to recover people missing in the water faster – WAFF

    Morgan County Rescue Squad is using new technology to recover people missing in the water faster – WAFF

    YSU to celebrate launch of new radiology technology program – WKBN.com

    YSU Launches Exciting New Radiology Technology Program Celebration

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

Palm-Sized Powerhouse: RIKEN’s Handheld Terahertz Device to “X-Ray” Things Without Harmful Radiation

July 8, 2023
in Science
Palm-Sized Powerhouse: RIKEN’s Handheld Terahertz Device to “X-Ray” Things Without Harmful Radiation
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Handheld X-ray Technology Concept

RIKEN researchers have developed a handheld device that effectively uses the terahertz band of the electromagnetic spectrum for ‘X-raying’ objects without harmful radiation. By optimizing certain techniques and utilizing specific materials, they significantly improved terahertz wave power output and miniaturized the device. The technology promises various applications including non-destructive imaging and quantum research, with industrial collaborations underway.

Using new palm-sized devices, RIKEN researchers may have finally harnessed the terahertz band of the electromagnetic spectrum to effectively ‘X-ray’ things without using harmful ionizing radiation.

Countless technologies—from smartphones and TVs to infrared instruments on the James Webb Space Telescope and high-speed wireless telecommunication devices using microwaves—exploit sections of the electromagnetic spectrum.

But somewhere between commonly used microwaves and infrared light, lies a neglected region called the terahertz band. Terahertz waves have numerous exciting potential uses, not least because they can be used to see through or inside materials in a similar way to X-rays. Unlike X-rays, however, terahertz waves don’t deliver damaging ionizing radiation.

But terahertz technologies have so far languished because it has been difficult to adapt microwave- or visible-light technologies to the terahertz range at useful sizes and power outputs.

Device Converts Infrared Radiation Into Terahertz Waves

A device created by Hiroaki Minamide and his team, which efficiently converts infrared radiation into terahertz waves. It can generate terahertz radiation over the entire range of the terahertz band. Credit: © 2023 RIKEN

For example, one approach to generate terahertz waves has been to develop electrical devices that produce higher frequency, ultrashort-wavelength microwaves. But this has been difficult in part because these devices need highly optimized parameters to produce greater electrical performance, which has proved challenging.

An alternative strategy is to produce terahertz waves by converting shorter, higher-frequency waves of infrared light, using materials known as nonlinear crystals.

At the RIKEN Center for Advanced Photonics, we are exploring this second strategy—producing terahertz waves by converting the output from an infrared laser. This method has traditionally required enormous lasers to generate terahertz waves powerful enough for most practical applications. But this has limited the take-up of terahertz technology for real-world applications—where portable devices for in situ analysis would be far more valuable.

In the Tera-Photonics Research Team, which I lead, we hope to develop palm-sized, powerful terahertz wave sources for applications in industry and fundamental research. We have recently taken huge strides toward this goal and have multiple industrial collaborations underway.

Palm-sized devices

We have focused on using lithium niobate, a nonlinear crystal that produces a beam of terahertz waves when irradiated with near-infrared laser light. When I assumed leadership of the team in 2010, it was impossible to produce sufficiently powerful terahertz waves using this method, despite many years of work.

In 2011, we had to stop lab research for several months after a major earthquake struck Sendai, Japan, where our campus is. During that period, I remembered the result of a previous experiment that had caught my attention, and, I found an exciting hint of a possible path forward.

At that time, we used a near-infrared laser with pulse durations in the nanoseconds. The results indicated that when shorter, sub-nanosecond laser pulses were used, terahertz-wave generation as a function of the input laser pulse was altered. I wondered why this was.

I then uncovered a 1993 paper[1] that reported the effects of laser pulse duration in nonlinear crystals. The study—analyzing visible light—implied that using shorter pulses reduced a light-scattering effect called Brillouin scattering. I wondered whether, by reducing our laser pulse duration, we could minimize Brillouin scattering from our lithium niobate crystals. This might allow us to convert more of the laser light into terahertz waves and increase the power output.

Terahertz Gap Electromagnetic Spectrum

MIND THE GAP: Sandwiched between microwaves and infrared radiation on the electromagnetic spectrum, the terahertz gap has been underutilized in technologies until now. Like X-rays, terahertz waves have the ability to see through materials. But because terahertz waves have much lower frequencies (and hence energies) than X-rays, they do not pose the same risk to health that ionizing radiation does. Credit: © 2023 RIKEN

Once we returned to the lab and tested this theory, we were amazed by the result. Using sub-nanosecond laser pulses, we could escape Brillouin scattering to improve our terahertz wave power output by six orders of magnitude—from 200 milliwatts to 100 kilowatts[2]. We finally had powerful emission from a device only one meter square, much smaller than previous terahertz apparatuses, which filled entire rooms. But when we showed this device to industry, they told us that it was still too big for real-world applications.

To further miniaturize our terahertz-wave source, we replaced the bulk lithium niobate crystal ingot we had previously used with a thin lithium niobate crystal with an artificial polarization-modulated microstructure, which is called a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal. Commonly employed in the visible-light region, the PPLN crystal enabled us to develop a handheld device due to its higher light conversion efficiency.

At the beginning of our PPLN research, there was no known way to efficiently generate terahertz waves using PPLN crystals. As we proceeded with our own experiments, we were initially very puzzled by the behavior of PPLN crystals. We saw no terahertz waves, just an unexpected light beam, produced from the crystal.

After carefully analyzing the properties of this light, we eventually realized that terahertz waves were being produced, but in an unexpected direction. The interaction between the light and the PPLN’s polarization-modulated structure caused terahertz waves to be generated at the rear of the crystal. When we moved our detector behind it, we found the terahertz wave[3]. We could finally make a palm-sized prototype with a high conversion efficiency and sufficient power.

Remarkably, we also discovered that simply by rotating the crystal, we could tune the frequency of the terahertz waves produced[4]. Our devices can completely cover the critical sub-terahertz region of the spectrum, which is especially important for non-destructive imaging applications.

Quantum leap

Our research is based on photon conversion between light waves and terahertz waves by nonlinear optical effects based on mature photonic and laser technologies. We’ve achieved cascade oscillation in backward terahertz-wave parametric oscillation by using optical injection to lower the threshold and stabilize the output power—achieving a peak terahertz output power of 200 watts at a frequency of 0.3 terahertz; converted terahertz waves to light waves in a backward optical quantum conversion process; and succeeded in detecting ultraweak terahertz waves of approximately 50 attojoules, which is 1,000 times more sensitive than a 4 kelvin bolometer. These results provide new quantum research based on terahertz-to-light quantum photon conversion. Our most recent results are based on incorporating quantum theory into our work. And our future work will explore quantum entanglement—where one quantum particle mysteriously mirrors another far away—to improve the sensitivity of terahertz detectors.

Furthermore, our highly miniaturized, high-power terahertz waves systems are complemented by recent developments in compact, powerful photonic lasers. Our devices use a new microchip laser that produces far-infrared laser pulses at sub-nanosecond speeds and high powers.

We’re now at the point where industrial collaborations form a key part of our work. The strong sub-terahertz emissions that our devices can generate are highly suited to imaging and analytical work. We’re conducting joint research with Japanese companies specializing in electronics, optical and photonics—such as Ricoh, Topcon, Mitsubishi Electric and Hamamatsu Photonics—to develop non-destructive testing applications and terahertz-wave spectroscopy equipment.

To demonstrate the potential of our technology for security purposes, we have assembled a prototype terahertz imaging device. With it we showed that a plastic gun, which can fire plastic bullets, could be clearly detected when concealed behind bumpy glass that scatters light a lot. We could also clearly image a pair of scissors hidden in a thick leather bag.

Terahertz waves can also reveal the chemical composition of substances, due to characteristic ‘fingerprint’ absorption patterns. Different colorless liquids—such as kerosene and acetone—that look identical to the naked eye can be readily identified by this method, for example. Thus, applications under consideration for terahertz waves range from airport security scanners to the analysis of historic artworks.

Industrial paint and outer coatings can also be analyzed, from things as varied as new cars and pharmaceutical tablets—and non-destructively, unlike current methods. In the future, we could mount our devices onto robots to crawl along industrial pipework to inspect for corrosion or on drones to inspect paint on power transmission towers.

These and other uses could give us a better understanding of how materials interact and degrade in situ. If we can better understand these issues using non-destructive technologies, we can more easily tweak production processes in real time to improve efficiencies and make patches to extend the life span of structures, for example. The economic and environmental benefits should be exponential.

References:

“High-resolution stimulated Brillouin gain spectroscopy in glasses and crystals” by Gregory W. Faris, Leonard E. Jusinski and A. Peet Hickman, 1 April 1993, Journal of the Optical Society of America B.
DOI: 10.1364/JOSAB.10.000587“Kilowatt-peak Terahertz-wave Generation and Sub-femtojoule Terahertz-wave Pulse Detection Based on Nonlinear Optical Wavelength-conversion at Room Temperature” by Hiroaki Minamide, Shin’ichiro Hayashi, Koji Nawata, Takunori Taira, Jun-ichi Shikata and Kodo Kawase, 19 December 2013, Journal of Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves.
DOI: 10.1007/s10762-013-0041-0“Tunable Backward Terahertz-wave Parametric Oscillation” by Kouji Nawata, Yu Tokizane, Yuma Takida and Hiroaki Minamide, 24 January 2019, Scientific Reports.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-37068-7Minamide, H. et al. in 2021 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO) (IEEE, 2021).
>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : SciTechDaily – https://scitechdaily.com/palm-sized-powerhouse-rikens-handheld-terahertz-device-to-x-ray-things-without-harmful-radiation/

Tags: Palm-SizedPowerhousescience
Previous Post

Why Does Eating Foods Cooked at High Temperatures Increase Cancer Risk? Stanford Scientists Discover Surprising New Reason Why

Next Post

How to watch Stage 8 of the Tour de France as breakaways may have their day

Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet – Living on Earth

Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet

August 23, 2025
Toyota Friday Night Rivals kicks off season with Elizabethton at Science Hill – WCYB

Toyota Friday Night Rivals Ignite the Season with Elizabethton vs. Science Hill Showdown

August 23, 2025
Star Trek as Refuge for the Science-Minded – The Provincetown Independent

How Star Trek Ignites Passion and Empowers the Science-Minded

August 23, 2025
Refresh your wardrobe at these 11 QTS award-winning fashion and lifestyle stores – Time Out Worldwide

Transform Your Look with These 11 Must-Visit Fashion and Lifestyle Stores

August 23, 2025
Alcorn State awarded grant to boost STEM with VR technology – WJTV

Alcorn State Secures Grant to Transform STEM Education Through Cutting-Edge VR Technology

August 23, 2025
Is Mastantuono in line for a start this Sunday? – Yahoo Sports

Is Mastantuono Set to Make His Starting Debut This Sunday?

August 23, 2025
‘Urgent action’ needed to protect workers from heat stress in warming world, UN says – Reuters

Urgent Action Needed to Shield Workers from Rising Heat Risks in a Warming World

August 22, 2025
The United States’ Biggest Vulnerability in the Trade War: Its Knowledge Economy – World Politics Review

The United States’ Greatest Weakness in the Trade War: Its Knowledge Economy

August 22, 2025
How to watch ‘F1: The Movie’ on Prime Video – About Amazon

Experience the Thrill: How to Stream ‘F1: The Movie’ on Prime Video

August 22, 2025
Willis Knighton Health in Louisiana joins Mayo Clinic Care Network – Mayo Clinic News Network

Willis Knighton Health Teams Up with Mayo Clinic Care Network to Elevate Patient Care in Louisiana

August 22, 2025

Categories

Archives

August 2025
MTWTFSS
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Jul    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (785)
  • Economy (805)
  • Entertainment (21,684)
  • General (16,619)
  • Health (9,845)
  • Lifestyle (818)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (807)
  • Politics (814)
  • Science (16,018)
  • Sports (21,304)
  • Technology (15,786)
  • World (786)

Recent News

Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet – Living on Earth

Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet

August 23, 2025
Toyota Friday Night Rivals kicks off season with Elizabethton at Science Hill – WCYB

Toyota Friday Night Rivals Ignite the Season with Elizabethton vs. Science Hill Showdown

August 23, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version