Following the highly successful event held last year at Queen Mary College, London this year's conference has been extended to include a broader range of presentations, a more extensive poster session and a mini-exhibition.

The key aspects of networking, informality have been kept to ensure the event allows delegates to make new contacts and gain understanding on the latest developments and market applications.

The Terahertz Gap

The terahertz spectrum has a number of exciting properties:

• it is non-ionising (and therefore safer than comparable technologies such as X-ray)
• metal reflects
• optically opaque or semi-opaque materials can appear transparent (such as some glasses, packaging, soil, brick, fabrics etc)
• many substances have a readily identifiable frequency “fingerprints”
  so identification and inspection solutions are possible

These frequencies sit between mid-infrared and microwave frequencies (100Ghz – 30Thz) in the ‘gap’ between electronics and optics systems.  Recent technological developments, both in electronics and optics, are closing this ‘gap’ facilitating new products and solutions.

Terahertz Applications

Early adopters needing non-destructive testing (NDT), imaging and substance identification in industries as diverse as military, aerospace, pharmaceutical, healthcare, food & drink, semiconductors and specialist communications are all starting to employ terahertz  based solutions.  For example: the technology is now used routinely for inspection of NASA’s space shuttle heat shield foam. Emerging terahertz based products are starting to work at full production speeds.