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A rail-mounted synthetic aperture radar has been constructed to operate at W-band (75 - 110 GHz) and a THz band (325 - 500 GHz) in order to ascertain its ability to locate isolated small, visually obscured metallic scatterers embedded in highly scattering dielectric hosts that are either semi-transparent or opaque. A top view 2D algorithm was used to reconstruct scenes from the acquired data, locating metallic scatterers at W-band with high range and cross-range resolution of 4.3 and 2 mm, respectively, and with improved range resolution of 0.86 mm at the THz band. Millimeter-sized metallic scatterers were easily located when embedded in semi-transparent, highly scattering target hosts of Styrofoam and waxy packing foam but were more difficult to locate when embedded in relatively opaque, highly scattering Celotex panels. Although the THz band provided the expected greater spatial resolution, it required the target to be moved closer to the rail and had a more limited field of view that prevented some targets from being identified. Techniques for improving the signal to noise ratio are discussed. This work establishes a path for developing techniques to render a complete 3D reconstruction of a scene., Comment: 23 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables

We demonstrate thin, flexible, metamaterial films with a strong, narrowband, polarization- and angle-insensitive absorption designed for wavelengths near one millimeter. These structures, fabricated by photolithography on a commercially available, copper-backed polyimide substrate, are nearly indistinguishable to the unaided human eye but can be easily observed by imaging at the resonance frequency of the film. We demonstrate that these patterns can be used to mark or barcode objects for secure identification with a terahertz imaging system.

We apply adaptive sensing techniques to the problem of locating sparse metallic scatterers using high-resolution, frequency modulated continuous wave W-band RADAR. Using a single detector, a frequency stepped source, and a lateral translation stage, inverse synthetic aperture RADAR reconstruction techniques are used to search for one or two wire scatterers within a specified range, while an adaptive algorithm determined successive sampling locations. The two-dimensional location of each scatterer is thereby identified with sub-wavelength accuracy in as few as 1/4 the number of lateral steps required for a simple raster scan. The implications of applying this approach to more complex scattering geometries are explored in light of the various assumptions made.