Terahertz hyper-imaging systems for advanced manufacturing

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This project targets the development of novel hyper-imaging systems (hyper stands for multidimensional in time and/or frequency) for the advanced characterization of manufactured materials using terahertz radiation. The proposed multidisciplinary research will enable the academic team members from INRS-EMT and their industrial partners (TeTechS, Integrity Testing Laboratory, and Lumenera), to lead a concerted effort in the pursuit of a terahertz imaging technology with unprecedented capabilities. Terahertz imaging has received considerable attention for industrial applications, due to its ability to "see through" materials that are opaque to other frequencies and for its use in chemical compound identification. However, many challenges still remain in the industrial use of terahertz imaging, in particular regarding the long acquisition time required for image reconstruction. To overcome this limitation, we plan to develop a novel imaging technology based on "ghost imaging". This powerful method will allow the indirect reconstruction of an object by using only a "single-pixel" terahertz detector (with no spatial resolution) in combination with a standard camera for the visible/near-infrared range. This will enable terahertz imaging without the use of a highly expensive terahertz camera. In the next three years, our activities will be focused on three specific realizations of this concept: (i) a terahertz hyper-spectral ghost imaging system offering fast acquisition rates and material recognition; (ii) a hyper-temporal ghost imaging system capable of coherently detect the terahertz pulse waveform in each pixel of the image; (iii) a super-resolution ghost imaging system, allowing to overcome diffraction-limited resolution and enabling the detection of sub-micron features at terahertz frequencies. This technology could lead to a significant improvement in spectroscopic and imaging instrumentation, being of immediate relevance, for example, for the analysis of advanced ceramic materials, which are largely used nowadays in the aerospace and automotive industries. Finally, the new knowledge derived from this project and the associated training of HQP will surely contribute to augment Canada's competitiveness in the high-technology sector.****************