An Approach for Sub-Second Imaging of Concealed Objects Using Terahertz (THz) Radar

High-resolution, long-range detection of person-borne concealed weapons has recently been demonstrated using a terahertz imaging radar. However, the radar's image acquisition time must be greatly shortened, from minutes to less than one second, before the system can be effectively deployed in a real-life threat environment. Here we analyze the major system modifications necessary for increasing the speed of a terahertz imaging radar by up to two orders of magnitude.