Identification of Liquids by High-Tc Josephson THz Detectors

Fast and reliable detection of liquids will be required for future checkpoint screening techniques. Recently, a new electromagnetic-wave concept based on our high-Tc Josephson detectors and Hilbert spectroscopy has been suggested to distinguish between liquids. This technology covers a spectral range of main dispersions of liquids, from a few GHz to a few THz, and thus significantly enhances reliability of identification. The high-Tc detectors, due to a power dynamic range of more than five orders, might guarantee short identification times. Several demonstration set-ups of liquid identifiers, consisting of high-Tc Josephson detectors, integrated in Stirling coolers, and polychromatic radiation sources, have been developed and characterized. Reflection polychromatic spectra of various liquids in plastic containers have been measured at the spectral range of 15-500 GHz with total scanning time down to 0.2 second. Reliable identification of liquids, both benign and threat, within an accuracy of 0.3% was demonstrated using water as a reflectance reference. The reflectance values for 30%H2O2/H2O solution at frequencies of 30 and 100 GHz were practically undistinguishable from that of for pure water, but an increase of the relative reflectance from 1.017 at 282 GHz to 1.033 at 434 GHz has been found. Last circumstance will be used for optimization of the identifiers.