Patent ID: 8242447
Filing Date: 2012-08-14
Classification: G01J,G01N

Abstract:
1. A method for detecting the presence of explosives on a target, the method comprising: a) providing an emitter containing a BSCCO Josephson junction stack, wherein the emitter is configured to direct terahertz radiation against a target; b) adjusting the voltage across the BSCCO Josephson junction stacks from 1 mV to 10 mV and back to 1 mV at a predetermined rate to produce THz at 0.5 GHz to 5.0 THz frequencies; c) providing a detector, wherein the detector is comprised of at least one YCBO Josephson junction detector for receiving terahertz radiation reflected from the target; d) converting frequency measurements of the reflected radiation by inverse Hilbert Transform; and e) analyzing the reflected radiation received by the detector to identify explosive.