Trick of light makes microwave imaging simple
Metamaterials plus math equals quick, cheap system
The days of standing still, arms raised, in an airport security scanner may soon be a thing of the past. A new microwave imaging system offers a fast, inexpensive way to see through clothing and other objects that gathers data without involving complicated moving parts.
The new system, reported in the Jan. 18 Science, employs a thin copper strip as an aperture that collects a range of microwave-frequency light. Elegant math then converts those data into an image in less than a second.
“This definitely represents a less expensive and potentially faster alternative to current imaging methods,” says technologist Kevin Kelly of Rice University in Houston, who was not involved
