T-ray

See also: tray

English

WOTD – 17 May 2025

Etymology

Initialism of t(erahertz) + ray, modelled after X-ray. The term was coined in Bell Labs in the United States in the mid-1990s.[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

T-ray (plural T-rays)

  1. (electrical engineering, electromagnetism, also attributive, chiefly in the plural) An electromagnetic wave with a frequency intermediate between, and sharing the properties of, short radio waves and long infrared waves, generally in the 0.1 to 10 terahertz (THz) band of frequencies. [from mid 1990s]
    Synonym: T-wave
    Hypernyms: submillimeter wave radiation, terahertz radiation, tremendously high frequency
    • 1996 September, Daniel M. Mittleman, Rune H[ylsberg] Jacobsen, Martin C. Nuss, “T-ray Imaging”, in IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics‎[3], volume 2, number 3, New York, N.Y.: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 March 2023, page 679:
      This terahertz "T-ray" technology combines imaging, real-time acquisition of terahertz waveforms and advanced signal processing techniques to obtain far-infrared images of objects and materials. In many cases, T-Ray[sic] images can also distinguish chemical compositions of the object. These features of T-ray imaging have generated interest in commercial applications in diverse areas as moisture analysis, quality control of plastic parts, packaging inspection, and trace gas analysis and monitoring.
    • 2000 July 1, Robin McKie, “T-rays take over from X-rays”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎[4], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 9 May 2014:
      Military officials believe T-rays could pinpoint the chemical constituents of anti-personnel mines, and spot terrorists carrying explosives into airports. Doctors are interested in T-rays because they are less damaging to living tissue than X-rays. Terahertz radiation is slightly more energetic than that of microwave ovens, and slightly less energetic than the infra-red light emitted by TV remote controls. […] Scientists are designing devices that can exploit the power of T-ray detection.
    • 2007 August, Derek Abbott, Xi-Cheng Zhang, “Scanning the Issue: T-Ray Imaging, Sensing, and Retection”, in Proceedings of the IEEE‎[5], volume 95, number 8, New York, N.Y.: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 March 2025, page 1511, column 1:
      A useful property of T-rays is that dry, nonpolar, and nonmetallic substances such as paper, cardboard, and plastics are transparent in these[sic – meaning this] frequency band. As this includes many packaging materials, the implication is that T-rays have potential applications in quality control and security. The content of packages can be noninvasively probed and T-rays can produce a molecular fingerprint to identify the contents.
    • 2012 May 16, “Milestone for Wi-fi with ‘T-rays’”, in BBC News‎[6], archived from the original on 14 October 2023:
      Researchers in Japan have smashed the record for wireless data transmission in the terahertz band, an uncharted part of the electro-magnetic spectrum. The data rate is 20 times higher than the best commonly used wi-fi standard. […] The research, published in Electronics Letters, adds to the idea that this "T-ray" band could offer huge swathes of bandwidth for data transmission. The band lies between the microwave and far-infrared regions of the spectrum, and is currently completely unregulated by telecommunications agencies. […] Until recently, the technology required both to generate and detect these "T-rays" has been too bulky, costly or power-hungry to offer a plausible alternative to existing devices tucked within smartphones or wi-fi routers. That looks set to change; in November electronic component firm ROHM demonstrated a 1.5Gb/s (1.5 billion bits per second) transfer rate at a frequency of 300GHz.

Usage notes

The International Telecommunication Union designates terahertz radiation to be in the 0.1 to 10 THz range,[2] though some sources regard radiation up to 30 THz to be T-rays as well. In older works, the range was from 0.3 to 3 THz (now called decimillimetric waves).[3]

Translations

References

  1. ^ Derek Abbott, Xi-Cheng Zhang (August 2007) “Scanning the Issue: T-Ray Imaging, Sensing, and Retection”, in Proceedings of the IEEE‎[1], volume 95, number 8, New York, N.Y.: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 March 2025, page 1509, column 2: “As recently as the mid-1990s, the term ‘T-rays’ was coined by Bell Labs. […] In the term ‘T-rays,’ the ‘T,’ of course, stands for terahertz.”
  2. ^ “Industry Specification Group (ISG) Terahertz (THz)”, in European Telecommunications Standards Institute‎[2], 2 February 2025 (last accessed), archived from the original on 2 February 2025.
  3. ^ Abbott and Zhang, page 1510.

Further reading

Anagrams

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