Successful experiment: Empa’s terahertz team has already managed to depict a wax fingerprint. Soon the researchers want to look through a textile layer. Terahertz videos are also on the cards.
Although terahertz radiation is as harmless as a lukewarm cup of tea, it can penetrate textiles and come into with the surface of the skin. Empa researchers aim to use this technique to research, among other things, why babies, sweaty hikers and bedridden senior citizens suffer from chafing. Nowadays, almost the entire range of electromagnetic waves, from X-rays to low-frequency radio waves, is exploited technologically. The entire range? No. A small area between microwaves and thermal infrared radiation defiantly resists technological usage: terahertz radiation. Until now, it has been difficult to produce transmitters and receivers at a reasonable price for this frequency range. And to cap it all, the radiation does not carry very far, either: on a rainy day, it is simply swallowed up by the damp air.
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
