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from the more-ways-for-TSA-to-look-at-people dept.
Terahertz radiation is touted to open up many wondrous possibilities. T-ray technology could allow security officials to detect concealed weapons from a distance, provide accurate medical imaging, and allow high-speed wireless data communication.
One of the challenges in making the technology viable, though, has been developing a compact, efficient, and powerful terahertz source. The sources used today are bulky and costly. Some, such as quantum cascade lasers, require cryogenic temperatures.
A team of physicists now proposes a way to convert DC electric fields into terahertz radiation. They have come up with a seemingly simple nanoscale device—it relies on complex physics, mind you—that consists of a pair of two-dimensional material layers placed on top of a thicker conductor. When a DC electric current is passed through the conductor or the 2-D layer, the device should spontaneously emit terahertz radiation, the researchers say. They report the design this week in the Journal of Applied Physics.
...
The device's underlying mechanism is surface plasmon resonance: the collective oscillations of conducting electrons. The DC field causes plasmon resonance at the thick conductor's surface and at the interface between the two 2-D layers. The two plasmons couple together and cause an instability in the oscillations, which induces the emission of THz radiation. Terahertz waves range in frequency from 300GHz–3 THz, corresponding to wavelengths between 1 mm to 0.1 mm.
More information on the device's design in the article. One step closer to real tricorders?
(Score: 2, Interesting) by anubi on Friday August 07 2015, @04:20AM
This reply is offtopic as hell as regards to the original story submission, but I just have to reply to my parent who asks would I kill in Obama's name.
When one researches our own psychology, we find many of us, maybe even most, are recruitable as hitmen for the rich.
This part of our human condition is no joke. Its terrifying when we realize what happens when we become someone else's agent, and accountable to their command.
Stanley Milgram studied this aspect of our lives in depth [explorable.com]
I found what he uncovered most unsettling.
I have disobeyed orders before... got labeled "not a team player".
Paid dearly for that too.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2015, @04:49AM
I would tell Milgram to go to hell, I never obey orders, and I immediately leave any social circle that expects me to be a team player. Also I don't use Facebook.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2015, @09:41AM
What color is the carpet in your mom's basement?