Derek Abbott

The final frontier: Addressing the challenge of T-ray frequencies

Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Adelaide

Wednesday, 30 May 2007, 15.30, W0.03

Terahertz (T-ray) radiation has traditionally been an inaccessible part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Recent advances in femtosecond lasers have enabled the emergence of T-rays as a safe imaging technology, which can identify substances non-invasively, as molecular vibrational modes tend to be in this frequency range. This talk will present the exciting challenge for T-ray frequencies (0.1 - 10 THz) in terms of imaging and sensing applications and review a number of projects carried out by the Adelaide T-ray Group. Historically, industry is transformed whenever a new part of the spectrum is accessed: T-rays are at the next frontier.

Short Biography

After doing his Ph.D., Derek worked for the GEC Hirst Research Centre (1978-1986), UK, and then Austek Microsystems, Adelaide, Australia. He is currently with the University of Adelaide, Australia, where he is the director of the Centre for Biomedical Engineering (CBME) and a full professor within the School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering. His work has received scientific reportage in Nature News & Views, Scientific American, The Sciences, New Scientist, The New York Times, Sciences et Avenir, and he holds over 100 journal publications. He is a co-editor of the book Quantum Aspects of Life (Imperial College Press) and co-author of the book Stochastic Resonance (Cambridge University Press) that are both due to appear in 2007. He has been an invited speaker at a number of institutions around the world including Princeton, the Santa Fe Institute, EPFL, MIT, Los Alamos Labs, and Cambridge University. He won a GEC Bursary (1977), the Stephen Cole the Elder Prize (1998), the Tall Poppy Award for Science (2004), and the SA Great Award in Science & Technology for outstanding contributions to South Australia (2004). He is currently on the editorial board of Proceedings of the IEEE. He is co-founder of two international conference series: (i) Microelectronics in the New Millennium, and (ii) Fluctuations and Noise. His interests are in stochastics and imaging systems. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (IOP), UK, with life membership, and a Fellow of the IEEE, USA.