SBIR Phase I: Terahertz Imaging Radar for Law Enforcement

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将通过进一步推进用于隐藏威胁检测的太赫兹雷达成像技术来改善公共安全。随着全国范围内武器暴力和大规模伤亡事件的增加，以及检测3D打印枪支和陶瓷刀等非金属武器的难度增加，威胁检测技术存在重大差距。该解决方案满足了约20亿美元市场中公认的需求，其中包括执法和活动场所安全。现有的方法（如机场扫描仪和步行金属探测器）是昂贵的，侵入性的，不方便或留下检测能力的大差距。 太赫兹雷达成像有望在消费级、便携式和谨慎的设备中实现黄金标准机场扫描仪的性能。通过展示太赫兹雷达收发器，第一阶段的工作将降低该技术的关键技术要素的风险，这对安全应用及其他应用至关重要。如果成功，该项目将在解决社会隐藏威胁检测问题方面迈出重要一步。该项目的智力价值围绕太赫兹雷达收发器的设计、实施、制造和测试，这是人员筛查设备所用方法的关键部件。目前在公开市场上没有这种收发器可供购买，更不用说以拟议的商业应用所需的成本和体积购买。当与成像系统的其他元件配对时，结果将是一个三维雷达成像仪，它能够“看穿”织物等介电材料，并检测隐藏的武器和违禁品（包括金属和非金属）。收发器设计工作将包括开发诸如倍频器、放大器和混频器等组件，以及将其电气、机械和热集成到更大的成像系统中。 该设计阶段将优先考虑实现与大规模制造和广泛部署兼容的成本、产量和可扩展性指标。这项工作涉及的关键考虑因素是系统的信噪比（SNR）和动态范围（DR），这两个重要指标在成像性能，因此武器探测能力。该项目利用了太赫兹集成电路技术的最新进展。 预期的结果是这样一个组件集成到全功能成像系统的实验演示。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

This broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will improve public safety by furthering terahertz radar imaging technology for concealed threat detection. With increasing cases of weapons violence and mass casualty events across the nation, and an increase in the difficulty of detecting non-metallic weapons such as 3D-printed firearms and ceramic knives, a significant gap exists in threat detection technologies. This solution addresses a recognized need in an approximately $2 billion market which includes law enforcement and event venue security. Existing approaches (such as airport scanners and walkthrough metal detectors) are expensive, intrusive, and inconvenient or leave large gaps in detection capability. Terahertz radar imaging promises the performance of gold-standard airport scanners in a consumer grade, portable, and discreet device. By demonstrating a terahertz radar transceiver, this Phase I effort will de-risk a key technical element of this technology, which is critical for security applications and beyond. If successful, this project represents a significant step forward in addressing society’s concealed threat detection issues.The intellectual merit of this project revolves around the design, implementation, fabrication and testing of a terahertz radar transceiver, a key component in the approach used in a personnel screening device. No such transceiver is currently available to purchase on the open market, let alone at the costs and volumes required for the proposed commercial applications. When paired with other elements of the imaging system, the result will be a three-dimensional radar imager which is capable of “seeing through” dielectric materials such as fabrics and detecting concealed weapons and contraband, both metallic and non-metallic. The transceiver design effort will feature development of components such as frequency multipliers, amplifiers and mixers, and their electrical, mechanical, and thermal integration into a larger imaging system. This design phase will prioritize achieving cost, yield, and scalability metrics compatible with mass manufacture and widespread deployment. Key considerations involved in this effort are the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and Dynamic Range (DR) of the system, both important metrics in imaging performance and therefore weapons detection capability. The project leverages recent advances in terahertz integrated circuit technology. The anticipated result is the experimental demonstration of such a component for integration into the fully functional imaging systems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.