High-resolution passive millimeter-wave security screening using few amplifiers

Trex Enterprises has applied the frequency scanned antenna architecture found in the ST-150 stand-off imager to closein personnel screening devices, including a full-body imager and a handheld scanning imager. These devices present the user with an image with 3mm square pixels and 10-18 mm spatial resolution using few amplifiers and a low level of mechanical complexity. The frequency scanned architecture permits the real-time imaging of a linear array of 64 pixels with a single amplifier module. The linear imager or imagers are slowly mechanically scanned to provide a twodimensional image. The imagers were used to capture images of concealed threat items at thermal resolutions from 1 K to 0.2 K, indoor and outdoors. Image quality is generally superior to that of stand-off detectors, detecting items as small as 10 mm.