Millimetre-wave

Millimetre-waves lie in the spectral region between radio waves and infrared. This band possesses a unique property of passing transparently through lightweight materials such as clothing fabrics. The property is made use of in mm-wave imagers that find their principal application in concealed object detection systems – typically used to identify the presence of weapons and contraband that are hidden beneath a persons clothing.

Millimetre-wave imagers have evolved over the past 50 years from very rudimentary systems to today’s technologies that create live video-like images for use as advanced people screening portals. In this evolution from scientific instruments to commercial security devices, the overriding constraint has been the cost of the sensors that detect the mm-wave signals that are needed to produce an image.

To overcome this barrier, scanning systems have been employed to direct mm-wave energy from all parts of the scene onto a small number of sensors. Historically these scanning systems have been based on mechanical techniques employing moving parts to direct and focus the mm-wave energy.

Smiths use a revolutionary approach that scans the scene electronically and has resulted in the first ‘no moving parts’ imager that is suitable for mass people screening.   The eqo product – named because it senses mm-wave echoes – marks an evolution to ‘next-generation’ technology for mm-wave imagers. The electronic scanning not only dispenses with the need for moving parts but also dramatically reduces the footprint of the product. The system consists of a flat-panel array that produces excellent image quality with a real-time, full motion video style output. 

Visit our eqo page.