Submillimeter-Wave Image Sensor

A proposed monolithic planar array of miniature dipole antennas, diodes, and associated input/output circuitry would serve as a prototype of image sensors for submillimeter-wavelength video cameras (see Figure 1). Sensors of this type could be designed to operate as either direct or heterodyne detectors of electromagnetic radiation at frequencies from 300 GHz to 3 THz; as such, they could offer new capabilities for such diverse uses as analysis of submillimeter radiation from far-infrared devices, measurements of the submillimeter-wavelength radiative properties of materials, molecular-line spec-troscopy of astronomical bodies and the upper atmosphere of the Earth, and perhaps imaging of biomaterials for medical applications.