News | December 29, 1999

Coherent Laser, Picometrix Team For T-Ray System

Source: Coherent, Inc.
Picometrix Inc. (Ann Arbor, MI) and Coherent, Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) have joined forces to develop and commercialize a time-domain terahertz (T- Ray) system.

The T-Ray technology was initially developed at Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs (Murray Hill, NJ), and subsequently transferred to Picometrix. In terahertz imaging, femtosecond laser pulses incident on the material under test trigger terahertz pulses with picosecond duration, which are then detected and evaluated. The technology has a variety of applications, including materials inspection, fault detection, moisture sensing, biomedical imaging, chemical reaction analysis, and environmental and pollution control.

Using the Coherent Vitesse laser as the femtosecond optical excitation source, Picometrix has developed a T-Ray System with up to 2-THz bandwidth in a fiber-pigtailed transceiver configuration. Both companies plan to collaborate in manufacturing and marketing of the T-Ray technology. Current activities include optimization of the T-Ray system design, in conjunction with applications development with a variety of potential system users. The two companies seek commercial partners for the technology.