Terahertz Sensing Science & Electronic Technology for CB Defense

During the last few years, many new research programs have emerged within the U.S. Army and the Department of Defense (DoD) that have been focused on advancing the state-of-the-art in terahertz (THz) frequency electronic technology and on investigating novel applications of THz frequency sensing. Similarly, there has been a steadily growing interest among the international scientific and technical communities in the unique challenges associated with developing a robust electronics technology and with developing a detailed understanding of the THz frequency sensing science. The U.S. Army has maintained a focused research and development (R&D) program in THz-related Science and Technology for nearly two decades, which has been motivated primarily by the potential of THz sensing to chemical and biological (CB) defense. More recently, the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and the U.S. Army Research Office (AR0) have established a number of jointly-supported R&D projects that place an emphasis on assessing the practical utility of THz sensing to warfare agents threats, with biological agent detection being the top priority. This paper will present a brief historical overview of the U.S. Army supported THz R&D program and report on the recent progress and future directions of the DTRA-ARO program for point and remote detection of biological warfare agents.