Terahertz and mm waves have gained popularity in many applications such as spectroscopy and imaging, detection of weapons concealed under clothing and non-destructive product inspection. By developing low-cost efficient THz detection mechanisms, the usability of these applications can be enhanced considerably. Commercial detectors currently used to detect microwaves to THz waves range from Shottky diodes to bolometers, Golay cells and pyroelectric detectors. However, many of these detectors have limitations in terms of speed and responsivity. In addition, they have a common disadvantage of being expensive. For these reasons, glow discharge detectors (GDDs) can be a good alternative since they are cheap and can detect microwave to mm-wave radiation with high sensitivity. These detectors have shown a good response in the mm wave region of the spectrum below 100GHz [1]. Using a specialized circuit especially designed to amplify the small signals seen in these lamps when they are illuminated with mm wave/THz radiation we were able to develop a detector with a wide dynamic range. This allowed us to to investigate the possibility of using these lamps in array configurations for stand-off imaging purposes.

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Glow discharge detectors,mm-wave,THz radiation