Explore Rice Research Reports — This need further research. It sounds like UWB (ultrawideband) to me.
Through the simple technology of a bare metal wire, researchers may significantly extend the reach of electromagnetic rays in penetrating plastic, vinyl, paper, dry timber and glass. In some cases, the method reveals not only the shape of a hidden object but its chemical composition. T-ray imaging, which is not biologically hazardous like X-rays, promises uses ranging from cancer screening to industrial quality control, and already it is being developed by several companies into security systems that can look inside people’s shoes, bags and clothing for guns, bombs and other contraband.
Isn’t a bare metal wire sometimes called an antenna??
T-Rays = Terahertz Wavelengths in this regions havepplications in imaging and chemical detection. The design of sources and detectors which operate in this region is ongoing at a fast pace.
See the May 2003 issue of Optics & Photonics News for a good overview article on Terahertz technology.
http://www.osa-opn.org/issue.cfm?issue_id=185
Terahertz (THz=10^12Hz) radiation represents the last unexplored frontier of the radio wave and light spectrum. The so-called “Terahertz gap” – where up until recently bright sources of light and sensitive means of detection have not existed – encompasses frequencies invisible to the naked eye in the range from 100GHz (10^11Hz) up to roughly 30THz (3×10^13Hz). The former limit lies just above the microwave region where satellite dishes and mobile phones operate, whereas the latter limit is located adjacent to infrared frequencies used in devices such as television remote controllers. The gap is a fusion between microwaves and infrared light. Conventional microwave sources do not work fast enough (at high enough frequencies) to efficiently produce radiation in the gap, whereas laser diode sources have been limited by thermal effects. However, very recently, advances in ultra-fast pulsed laser technology have led to the generation and detection of broad bandwidth Terahertz light for the first time. This dramatic advance was made possible by applying new concepts in semiconductor physics to these commercially available laser systems.