Imaging system can manipulate light waves

The development has the potential to advance a technology with potential applications in medical and security imaging, a team led by Boston College researchers reports in the online edition of the journal Nature Photonics.

The team has developed a multiplex tuneable spatial light modulator (SLM) that uses a series of filter-like masks to retrieve multiple samples of a terahertz (THz) scene, which are reassembled by a single-pixel detector, said Willie Padilla, a Boston College Professor of Physics and lead author of the report.

Data obtained from these encoded measurements are used to computationally reconstruct the images as much as six times faster than traditional raster scan THz devices, the team reports. In addition, the device employs an efficient low power source, said Padilla, whose research team worked with colleagues from the University of New Mexico and Duke University.

‘I think we were surprised by how well the imaging system worked, particularly in light of the incredibly low power source,’ Padilla said in a statement. ‘Traditional THz imaging systems use sources that demand much more power than our system.’