Mind the (THz) Gap!

On this episode of From the Crows’ Nest, host Ken Miller speaks with 17-year-old high school senior Jonathan Dorminy about his nationally-acclaimed project studying a frequency range between microwave and infrared, known as “the terahertz gap.”

This gap is a range of the electromagnetic spectrum that has been barely utilized compared to the rest of the spectrum. Using this frequency band can be difficult because of limitations on how fast transistors can switch for generating signals. Jonathan’s project used a black-box radiator (an object to generate signals of a specific intensity and frequency by being heated to a specific temperature) to run an experiment and achieve a reading 60 times faster than what anyone else has managed to produce. Ken says this project shows the terahertz gap as an intriguing frontier for both commercial and defense industries.

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