Nanoscale Device Generates High-Power THz Waves That Can See Through Walls

Researchers at EPFL have developed a nanodevice that operates more than 10 times faster than today’s fastest transistors, and about 100 times faster than the transistors you have on your computers.

This new device enables the generation of high-power terahertz waves. These waves, which are notoriously difficult to produce, are useful in a rich variety of applications ranging from imaging and sensing to high-speed wireless communications. The high-power picosecond operation of these device also holds immense promise to some advanced medical treatment techniques such as cancer therapy. The team’s pioneering compact source, described on March 25, 2020, in the journal Nature, paves the way for untold new applications.