Industry | Semiconductors |
---|---|
Founded | 2001 (from Toshiba Research Europe) |
Founder | Michael Pepper, Don Arnone (from Toshiba Research Europe) |
Headquarters | 1 Enterprise, Cambridge Research Park, Cambridge, United Kingdom |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Don Arnone (CEO) Sir Michael Pepper (Chief Scientific Director) |
Products | Terahertz imaging and spectroscopy equipment |
Number of employees | 30+ (2024) |
Website | TeraView |
TeraView Limited, or TeraView, is a company that designs terahertz imaging and spectroscopy instruments and equipment for measurement and evaluation of pharmaceutical tablets, nanomaterials, ceramics and composites, integrated circuit chips and more. [1]
TeraView was co-founded by Michael Pepper (CSO) and Dr Don Arnone (CEO) as a spin-out of Toshiba Research Europe in April 2001. [2] The company was set up to exploit the intellectual property and expertise developed in sourcing and detecting terahertz radiation (1 THz= 33.3 cm−1), using semiconductor technologies. Leading industry proponents of the technology sit on its Advisory Board, and TeraView maintains close links with the Cavendish Laboratory [3] at the University of Cambridge, which was one of the research universities which had an interest in Terahertz techniques. It is also where Professor Pepper, [4] has held the position of Professor of Physics since 1987.
TeraView has developed a number of instruments that harness the properties of terahertz radiation. [5] Terahertz light has some interesting application. Many common materials and living tissues are semi-transparent and have ‘terahertz fingerprints’, [6] [7] permitting them to be imaged, identified, and analyzed. Moreover, the non-ionizing properties of terahertz radiation and the relatively low power levels used indicate that it is safe. [8]
By applying different software analysis packages, the same base technologies can be brought to bear to several applications.
The company's primary focus of investigation includes the development of terahertz light into a useful spectroscopic and imaging technique. The ‘terahertz gap’ – where until recently bright sources of light and sensitive means of detection were difficult to access – encompasses frequencies invisible to the naked eye in the electromagnetic spectrum, lying between microwave and infrared in the range from 0.3 to 3THz. TeraView's existing instruments generate, detect and manipulate THz light and have been tested in a number of application areas.
The applications of terahertz radiation in the pharmaceutical industry include nondestructive estimation of critical quality attributes in pharmaceutical products [9] [10] such as crystalline structure, [11] thickness and chemical composition analysis. [12] TeraView has demonstrated that terahertz instruments can produce 3D coating thickness maps [13] for multiple coating layers [14] and structural features models [15] allowing better understanding and control of product scale up and manufacture. [16]
Due in part to its ability to recognize spectral fingerprints, terahertz pulsed imaging can be applied to provide contrast between different types of soft tissue. [17] Also, it is a sensitive means of detecting the degree of water content [18] and markers of cancer [19] and other diseases. [20] [21] Attempts have been made to apply Terahertz to image cancers like breast, [22] cancer as well as other diseases in medicine, oral health care, and related areas. The company announced it has been cleared by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to trial in-vivo terahertz spectroscopy for bio-medical research. [23] The trials will be held in Guy's Hospital in London and aim to determine if the technology can be applied real-time for accurate removal of cancer tissue. [24]
Terahertz technology has the potential [25] to safely, noninvasively and quickly image through different types of clothing and other concealment and confusion materials. [26] It has been hypothesized that because THz light is absorbed by explosive materials [27] at certain frequencies it may be possible to find unique 'terahertz fingerprints' [28] that can be distinguished from clothing or other materials. [29] This has never been proved in a practical sense. The company's technology has been used by the Naval Surface Warfare Command to test the presence of different types of plastic explosives through clothing, including PETN (Pentaerythritol tetranitrate). [30]
THz spectroscopy can be used as a non-contact analytical method. [31] The absorption coefficient and refractive index [32] measured by terahertz pulsed spectroscopy can be used directly to obtain the high frequency-dependent complex conductivities of materials [33] in the 0.1 – 3 THz (3 – 100 cm−1) region of the electromagnetic spectrum. [34] The technology has been applied to some areas of solid state physics research such as semiconductors, [35] high-temperature superconductors, [36] terahertz metamaterials, carrier density dynamics, graphene, [37] carbon nanotubes, [33] magnetism and more. [38]
Terahertz light can be used as non-contact technique for analysis in material integrity studies. It has proved to be effective in nondestructive inspection of layers in paints and coatings, [39] detecting structural defects in ceramic and composite materials [40] and imaging the physical structure of paintings and manuscripts. [41] [42] The use of THz waves for non-destructive evaluation enables inspection of multi-layered structures and can identify abnormalities from foreign material inclusions, disbond and delamination, mechanical impact damage, heat damage, and water or hydraulic fluid ingression. [43] The company's Chief Scientific Director, Sir Michael Pepper, explains that THz imaging can measure thickness across a substrate precisely and it can also obtain the density of the coating: "The radiation is reflected each time there is a change in material. The time of arrival is measured and then various algorithms complete the picture by developing 3D fine feature images and precise material identifications". [44] Further research by the company and active collaboration with the University of Cambridge is aiming to develop a terahertz sensor that can be used to measure the quality of paint coatings on cars. [45]
Terahertz technology allows high resolution 3D imaging of semiconductor packages and integrated circuit devices. [35] THz time-domain reflectometry (TDR) offers significant advantages in imaging resolution compared to existing fault isolation techniques and conventional millimetre wave systems. [46] Working with Intel on the applications of THz technology for the semiconductor industry, TeraView developed a new technique which combines electro-optics and THz pulses in a non-destructive Electro Optical Terahertz Pulse Reflectometry (EOTPR) which operates at up to 2 THz with resolution of 10 μm for improved fault isolation and failure analysis process-flow studies. [47] "The unique capabilities of terahertz TDR and its advantages over the conventional TDR have been recognized. With such revolutionary concept, innovative design and superior performance, EOTPR will become an essential tool for microelectronic package fault isolation and failure analysis." Yongming Cai, Zhiyong Wang, Rajen Dias, and Deepak Goyal, Intel Corporation. [48]
Terahertz radiation – also known as submillimeter radiation, terahertz waves, tremendously high frequency (THF), T-rays, T-waves, T-light, T-lux or THz – consists of electromagnetic waves within the International Telecommunication Union-designated band of frequencies from 0.3 to 3 terahertz (THz), although the upper boundary is somewhat arbitrary and is considered by some sources as 30 THz. One terahertz is 1012 Hz or 1,000 GHz. Wavelengths of radiation in the terahertz band correspondingly range from 1 mm to 0.1 mm = 100 μm. Because terahertz radiation begins at a wavelength of around 1 millimeter and proceeds into shorter wavelengths, it is sometimes known as the submillimeter band, and its radiation as submillimeter waves, especially in astronomy. This band of electromagnetic radiation lies within the transition region between microwave and far infrared, and can be regarded as either.
The term biophotonics denotes a combination of biology and photonics, with photonics being the science and technology of generation, manipulation, and detection of photons, quantum units of light. Photonics is related to electronics and photons. Photons play a central role in information technologies, such as fiber optics, the way electrons do in electronics.
Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a spectroscopic method that uses the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Typical applications include medical and physiological diagnostics and research including blood sugar, pulse oximetry, functional neuroimaging, sports medicine, elite sports training, ergonomics, rehabilitation, neonatal research, brain computer interface, urology, and neurology. There are also applications in other areas as well such as pharmaceutical, food and agrochemical quality control, atmospheric chemistry, combustion research and knowledge.
In physics, terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) is a spectroscopic technique in which the properties of matter are probed with short pulses of terahertz radiation. The generation and detection scheme is sensitive to the sample's effect on both the amplitude and the phase of the terahertz radiation.
Far-infrared laser or terahertz laser is a laser with output wavelength in between 30 and 1000 μm, in the far infrared or terahertz frequency band of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Zinc telluride is a binary chemical compound with the formula ZnTe. This solid is a semiconductor material with a direct band gap of 2.26 eV. It is usually a p-type semiconductor. Its crystal structure is cubic, like that for sphalerite and diamond.
Characterization, when used in materials science, refers to the broad and general process by which a material's structure and properties are probed and measured. It is a fundamental process in the field of materials science, without which no scientific understanding of engineering materials could be ascertained. The scope of the term often differs; some definitions limit the term's use to techniques which study the microscopic structure and properties of materials, while others use the term to refer to any materials analysis process including macroscopic techniques such as mechanical testing, thermal analysis and density calculation. The scale of the structures observed in materials characterization ranges from angstroms, such as in the imaging of individual atoms and chemical bonds, up to centimeters, such as in the imaging of coarse grain structures in metals.
Photomixing is the generation of continuous wave terahertz radiation from two lasers. The beams are mixed together and focused onto a photomixer device which generates the terahertz radiation. It is technologically significant because there are few sources capable of providing radiation in this waveband, others include frequency multiplied electronic/microwave sources, quantum cascade laser and ultrashort pulsed lasers with photoconductive switches as used in terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. The advantages of this technique are that it is continuously tunable over the frequency range from 300 GHz to 3 THz, and spectral resolutions in the order of 1 MHz can be achieved. However, the achievable power is on the order of 10−8 W.
Chemical imaging is the analytical capability to create a visual image of components distribution from simultaneous measurement of spectra and spatial, time information. Hyperspectral imaging measures contiguous spectral bands, as opposed to multispectral imaging which measures spaced spectral bands.
Terahertz tomography is a class of tomography where sectional imaging is done by terahertz radiation. Terahertz radiation is electromagnetic radiation with a frequency between 0.1 and 10 THz; it falls between radio waves and light waves on the spectrum; it encompasses portions of the millimeter waves and infrared wavelengths. Because of its high frequency and short wavelength, terahertz wave has a high signal-to-noise ratio in the time domain spectrum. Tomography using terahertz radiation can image samples that are opaque in the visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum. Terahertz wave three-dimensional (3D) imaging technology has developed rapidly since its first successful application in 1997, and a series of new 3D imaging technologies have been proposed successively.
Electro-optic rectification (EOR), also referred to as optical rectification, is a non-linear optical process that consists of the generation of a quasi-DC polarization in a non-linear medium at the passage of an intense optical beam. For typical intensities, optical rectification is a second-order phenomenon which is based on the inverse process of the electro-optic effect. It was reported for the first time in 1962, when radiation from a ruby laser was transmitted through potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) and potassium dideuterium phosphate (KDdP) crystals.
In semiconductor physics, the photo–Dember effect is the formation of a charge dipole in the vicinity of a semiconductor surface after ultra-fast photo-generation of charge carriers. The dipole forms owing to the difference of mobilities for holes and electrons which combined with the break of symmetry provided by the surface lead to an effective charge separation in the direction perpendicular to the surface. In an isolated sample, where the macroscopic flow of an electric current is prohibited, the fast carriers are slowed and the slow carriers are accelerated by an electric field, called the Dember field.
Quilt Packaging (QP) is an integrated circuit packaging and chip-to-chip interconnect packaging technology that utilizes “nodule” structures that extend out horizontally from the edges of microchips to make chip-to-chip interconnections.
A terahertz metamaterial is a class of composite metamaterials designed to interact at terahertz (THz) frequencies. The terahertz frequency range used in materials research is usually defined as 0.1 to 10 THz.
Terahertz nondestructive evaluation pertains to devices, and techniques of analysis occurring in the terahertz domain of electromagnetic radiation. These devices and techniques evaluate the properties of a material, component or system without causing damage.
Terahertz spectroscopy detects and controls properties of matter with electromagnetic fields that are in the frequency range between a few hundred gigahertz and several terahertz. In many-body systems, several of the relevant states have an energy difference that matches with the energy of a THz photon. Therefore, THz spectroscopy provides a particularly powerful method in resolving and controlling individual transitions between different many-body states. By doing this, one gains new insights about many-body quantum kinetics and how that can be utilized in developing new technologies that are optimized up to the elementary quantum level.
Reflectometry is a general term for the use of the reflection of waves or pulses at surfaces and interfaces to detect or characterize objects, sometimes to detect anomalies as in fault detection and medical diagnosis.
An Auston switch is an optically gated antenna that is commonly used in the generation and detection of pulsed terahertz radiation. It is named after the physicist David H. Auston who first developed the technology at Bell Labs in the 1960s.
Anisotropic terahertz microspectroscopy (ATM) is a spectroscopic technique in which molecular vibrations in an anisotropic material are probed with short pulses of terahertz radiation whose electric field is linearly polarized parallel to the surface of the material. The technique has been demonstrated in studies involving single crystal sucrose, fructose, oxalic acid, and molecular protein crystals in which the spatial orientation of molecular vibrations are of interest.
Alexander Giles Davies is Professor of Electronic and Photonic Engineering at the University of Leeds.
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