T-ray
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈtiːˌɹeɪ/
ipa: /ˈtiˌɹeɪ/
Forms: form: T-rays
Etymology: Initialism of t(erahertz) + ray, modelled after X-ray. The term was coined in Bell Labs in the United States in the mid-1990s.
Senses: examples: text: This terahertz "T-ray" technology combines imaging, real-time acquisition of terahertz waveforms and advanced signal processing techniques to obtain far-infrared images of objects and materials. In many cases, T-Ray^([sic]) images can also distinguish chemical compositions of the object. These features of T-ray imaging have generated interest in commercial applications in diverse areas as moisture analysis, quality control of plastic parts, packaging inspection, and trace gas analysis and monitoring.
ref: 1996 September, Daniel M. Mittleman, Rune H[ylsberg] Jacobsen, Martin C. Nuss, “T-ray Imaging”, in IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, volume 2, number 3, New York, N.Y.: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 Mar 2023, page 679:
text: Military officials believe T-rays could pinpoint the chemical constituents of anti-personnel mines, and spot terrorists carrying explosives into airports. Doctors are interested in T-rays because they are less damaging to living tissue than X-rays. Terahertz radiation is slightly more energetic than that of microwave ovens, and slightly less energetic than the infra-red light emitted by TV remote controls. […] Scientists are designing devices that can exploit the power of T-ray detection.
ref: 2000 July 1, Robin McKie, “T-rays take over from X-rays”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 09 May 2014:
text: A useful property of T-rays is that dry, nonpolar, and nonmetallic substances such as paper, cardboard, and plastics are transparent in these^([sic – meaning this]) frequency band. As this includes many packaging materials, the implication is that T-rays have potential applications in quality control and security. The content of packages can be noninvasively probed and T-rays can produce a molecular fingerprint to identify the contents.
ref: 2007 August, Derek Abbott, Xi-Cheng Zhang, “Scanning the Issue: T-Ray Imaging, Sensing, and Retection”, in Proceedings of the IEEE, volume 95, number 8, New York, N.Y.: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 Mar 2025, page 1511, column 1:
text: Researchers in Japan have smashed the record for wireless data transmission in the terahertz band, an uncharted part of the electro-magnetic spectrum. The data rate is 20 times higher than the best commonly used wi-fi standard. […] The research, published in Electronics Letters, adds to the idea that this "T-ray" band could offer huge swathes of bandwidth for data transmission. The band lies between the microwave and far-infrared regions of the spectrum, and is currently completely unregulated by telecommunications agencies. […] Until recently, the technology required both to generate and detect these "T-rays" has been too bulky, costly or power-hungry to offer a plausible alternative to existing devices tucked within smartphones or wi-fi routers. That looks set to change; in November electronic component firm ROHM demonstrated a 1.5Gb/s (1.5 billion bits per second) transfer rate at a frequency of 300GHz.
ref: 2012 May 16, “Milestone for Wi-fi with ‘T-rays’”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 14 Oct 2023:
topics: business
electrical
electrical-engineering
electricity
electromagnetism
energy
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
synonyms: T-wave
hypernyms: submillimeter wave radiation
terahertz radiation
tremendously high frequency
glosses: An electromagnetic wave with a frequency intermediate between, and sharing the properties of, short radio waves and long infrared waves, generally in the 0.1 to 10 terahertz (THz) band of frequencies.
wikipedia: Bell Labs
International Telecommunication Union