Patent ID: 11874227
Assignee: THE UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 0:
1. An apparatus for imaging using microwave or terahertz radiation, said apparatus comprising:
a single cell comprising a vapour of atoms;
one or more laser sources configured to generate one or more laser beams propagating through said cell, said one or more laser beams defining a sensing region in said cell, wherein said one or more laser beams comprises a plurality of coaxial laser beams arranged as a light sheet defining said sensing region in said cell;
one or more microwave or terahertz sources configured to generate an imaging beam for illuminating an object receiving area for receiving an object to be imaged, said imaging beam comprising microwave or terahertz radiation; and
an imaging system for focusing the imaging beam to form, in use, an image of said object at said sensing region in said cell;
wherein the imaging system includes one or more lenses or mirrors for focusing, in use, a portion of the microwave or terahertz radiation of the imaging beam transmitted or reflected by the object to form said image of said object at said sensing region in said cell;
wherein respective frequencies of said one or more laser beams and said imaging beam are such that at least some of said atoms, when subjected to radiation of both said one or more laser beams and said imaging beam, are excited to a final excited state which decays to a lower energy state by emission of optical fluorescence.