Identifying explosives by dielectric properties obtained through wide-band millimeter-wave illumination

James C. Weatherall; Jeffrey Barber; Barry T. Smith

doi:10.1117/12.2177216

19 May 2015 Identifying explosives by dielectric properties obtained through wide-band millimeter-wave illumination

James C. Weatherall, Jeffrey Barber, Barry T. Smith

Proceedings Volume 9462, Passive and Active Millimeter-Wave Imaging XVIII; 94620F (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2177216
Event: SPIE Defense + Security, 2015, Baltimore, MD, United States

Abstract

A method for extracting dielectric constant from free-space 18 - 40 GHz millimeter-wave reflection data is demonstrated. The reflection coefficient is a function of frequency because of propagation effects, and numerically fitting data to a theoretical model based on geometric optics gives a solution for the complex dielectric constant and target thickness. The discriminative value is illustrated with inert substances and military sheet explosive. In principle, the measurement of reflectivity across multiple frequencies can be incorporated into Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) systems to automatically identify the composition of anomalies detected on persons at screening checkpoints.

Citation Download Citation

James C. Weatherall, Jeffrey Barber, and Barry T. Smith "Identifying explosives by dielectric properties obtained through wide-band millimeter-wave illumination", Proc. SPIE 9462, Passive and Active Millimeter-Wave Imaging XVIII, 94620F (19 May 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2177216

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