Applied Optics Feature Announcement
RF Imaging: Architectures and Applications
Submission Deadline: 15 December 2009
We are pleased to announce a feature issue, to be published in the Information Processing Division of Applied Optics, that will focus on the topic of RF imaging systems and technology. Millimeter, submillimeter, and terahertz (THz) wavelength imaging components and systems have been developing at tremendous rates. Whether the approach is from an optical standpoint - albeit with very long wavelengths - or from a high (RF) frequency electronics standpoint, both approaches have recently culminated in significant improvements in sensitivity, reliability, and cost. All these attributes indicate that this area will become practical for many more applications than the currently dominant ones of remote sensing and radio astronomy. As such, RF imaging is an emerging field that includes or combines active and passive imaging, multiple detection approaches, image formation techniques, and signal and image processing. In all these areas, the established paradigms for RF imaging are being challenged by emerging technologies. There is a growing demand for affordable and practical imagers that can image through obscurants independent of solar illumination.
There are two principal characteristics that drive imaging and sensing applications into this portion of the spectrum; the first is transmission. The atmospheric transmission under low visibility conditions, such as cloud, fog, and dust, is much higher than electro-optic or infrared transmission. Likewise, many materials, such as clothing, packaging, and some building materials exhibit significant transmission at these wavelengths. Imaging at the highest possible frequency that still permits transmission maximizes achievable spatial resolution. The second is the unique spectral and molecular properties and signatures of materials when imaged at these wavelengths. These two properties open up two categories of applications: video-rate, obscuration-resistant imaging and spectral sensing.
Systems that use radiation in the RF spectral range can be applied to a broad swath of applications from navigation and pilotage to security sensing and medical diagnostic systems. In fact, there are currently hundreds of millimeter wavelength (mmW) imagers being used for security screening around the world. As systems push toward shorter wavelengths, the development of THz transistors and the use of negative index materials, as well as the application of computational optics to the RF regime, provide unique opportunities. As RF nonionizing radiation is nondestructive to both materials and tissue, it can be used for many types of diagnostic or inspection application. Additionally, the successful realization of metamaterials, plasmonic, and nanoelectronics-based devices and systems and their integration with conventional devices and systems can create additional novel applications.
This feature issue will focus on millimeter, submillimeter, and THz imaging to include the novel application of enabling device technology for system and subsystem demonstrations and the study of phenomenology and applications. Anticipated topics include but are not limited to the following:
- Transceiver subassemblies for imaging
- Image and data formation (classical & computational optical, digital, and interferometric)
- Simulation and modeling
- Phenomenology
- Signal and image processing
- Imaging sensor systems: applications (far-field for security and defense; near-field for nondestructive testing and biological)
The technological challenges that remain are significant, and the phenomenology is not totally defined. Both areas need substantial effort, and, as such, there are exciting science and engineering opportunities. Poor weather imaging, security screening, and the remote identification of materials are all applications that benefit from the recent advances in source and detector technology. New breakthroughs in the phenomenology and sensor architectures will enable development of future applications such as medical diagnostics.
The relevance of mmW and THz sensing is indicated by the level of research investment under a number of government-sponsored efforts. Additionally, industry-driven applications are slowly but surely growing as a number of smaller companies develop new product lines built around these technologies and applications. This special issue will provide the readers with a succinct collection of articles that are representative of the state of the art of today's science and technology in this arena.
Manuscripts must be prepared according to the usual standards for submission to Applied Optics; see the Information for Contributors in any printed issue or the OSA Style Guide: http://www.opticsinfobase.org/ao/submit/style/jrnls_style.cfm. Manuscripts must also be uploaded through OSA's electronic submission system: http://www.opticsinfobase.org/ao/journal/ao/author.cfm. All submissions must be submitted to the Information Processing Division. Please specify that the manuscript is for the RF Imaging feature (choose from the feature issue drop-down menu).
Feature Editors
Keith Krapels
US Army Night Vision & Electronic Sensors Directorate
Fort Belvoir , Virginia
USA
keith.krapels@us.army.mil
Neil A. Salmon
QinetiQ Ltd
Malvern, United Kingdom
nasalmon@qinetiq.com
David Wikner
US Army Research Laboratory
Adelphi, Maryland
USA
dawik@arl.army.mil
Christopher Schuetz
Phase Sensitive Innovations, Inc.
Newark, Delaware
USA
schuetz@phasesensitiveinc.com
