• Home 
• the People 
  • Contacts 
  • Consortium Partners 
  • Management Structure 
  • Jobs & Opportunities 
• the Project 
  • Project Background 
  • Objectives 
  • Publications & Dissemination 
  • News 
  • Gender Action Plan 
  • Ethics 
• the Science 
  • TeraHertz Radiation 
  • Potential Applications 
  • Frequently Asked Questions 
  • Related Links 

 

The TeraNova Project

TeraNova is an ambitious €5 million, 48 month Integrated Project, funded by the EU under the 6th Framework's Information Science & Technologies activity. The aim is to build on recent significant European technological developments and harness the unique properties of terahertz radiation.

The project, which began in September 2004 and is due to be completed in August 2008, conducts basic and applied research into devices and systems that operate in the terahertz region of the electromagnetic spectrum — that lying between the millimetre wave and infrared — in the areas of healthcare, security, bio-analytics, and process engineering.

Project Objectives

TeraNova will enhance the present state of THz technology and solve practical problems in four main areas:

• Under-pinning technologies – through the development of new functional components.
• Basic Science e.g. studies of spectroscopy, scattering and the transmission of radiation through non-homogenous materials.
• Development of proof-of-principle demonstrators.
• Development of Field Demonstrator Systems.

Project Organisation

The Project is organised into Themes, and each Theme is divided into several Workpackages. The Themes deal with:

• The development of functional components such as sources, detectors and amplifiers. For more information (“Functional Components” PDF)
• Basic Science, which enables new systems to be effectively designed and deployed (“Basic Science” PDF)
• Proof of Principle Demonstrators, where ideas developed in TeraNova can be applied to new applications for the first time (“Proof of Principle Demonstrators” PDF)
• Final Stage Demonstrators, where mature ideas originating from TeraNova work are turned into practical systems ready for use. (“Final Stage Demonstrators” PDF)

Project Highlights

Here are some of the TeraNova successes:

• Development of short pulse near infrared lasers, used to generate THz radiation over a wide frequency range, with unprecedented lifetime and output characteristics.
• Quantum Cascade Lasers (QCL) operation down to 1.2THz without magnetic field; and to 800GHz with magnetic field.
• THz QCLs operating with Peltier coolers only.
• Amplification of narrow band (FWHM~150 GHz) coherent THz pulses at 2.0 and 2.9 THz, by means of THz-QC gain medium.
• Realisation of a first scientific demonstrator of a compact THz emitter/amplifier unit.
• A fundamental study of phase and amplitude measurement in a THz QCL.
• A world-first concept for microfluidic sensing at THz frequency based on a dielectric THz waveguide; sensor-chips developed in TeraNova remain the only devices in the world that use a modular chip-based concept of separable THz components, providing an enabling route to low-cost biochips.
• Development of TeraNova microscope systems, with future potential applications in biology and materials science.
• Development of a semiconductor THz-scanner which will provide a new tool for semiconductor industry.
• Development of mathematical models to describe how THz radiation passes through materials such as clothing or powders.
• Development of signal processing methods at THz frequencies which improve the ability of THz tomographic systems to detect and identify hidden bodies.
• Measurement of the THz fingerprints of drugs and explosives through packaging materials.
• Instrumentation to assess minute quantities of liquids (˜10–5 L), allowing: the direct determination of the alcohol content in beverages; and distinguishing between inflammable and water-based liquids, through plastic and glass bottles.