학술논문

A Passive, Fully Staring THz Video Camera Based on Kinetic Inductance Bolometer Arrays
Document Type
Periodical
Source
IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology IEEE Trans. THz Sci. Technol. Terahertz Science and Technology, IEEE Transactions on. 11(1):101-108 Jan, 2021
Subject
Fields, Waves and Electromagnetics
Detectors
Kinetic theory
Inductance
Bolometers
Cameras
Instruments
Bolometer
focal plane array (FPA)
kinetic inductance
radiometry
security screening
THz imaging
THz video camera
Language
ISSN
2156-342X
2156-3446
Abstract
Current state-of-the-art security video cameras operating in the THz regime employ up to a few hundred detectors together with optomechanical scanning to cover an adequate field-of-view for practical concealed object detection. As a downside, the scanning reduces the integration time per pixel compromising sensitivity, increases the complexity, and reduces the reliability of the system. In contrast to this, we demonstrate a video camera, for the first time, basing its operation on the concept of a fully staring 2-D detector array with a single detector element responsible for a single imaged pixel. The imaging system is built around the detector technology of kinetic inductance bolometers, allowing the operation in the intermediate temperature range $>$5 K and the scale-up of the detector count into multikilo-pixel arrays and beyond. The system is designed for a field-of-view of 2 × 1 m$^2$ and an imaging distance of 2.5 m. We describe the main components of the system and show images from concealed object experiments performed at a near-video rate of 9 Hz.