Advanced Photonix Announces Sale of T-Ray Sensor to China
ANN ARBOR -- Advanced Photonix (NYSE MKT: API) announced Tuesday that it has sold a T-Gauge terahertz sensor to Shanghai Gaojing in Shanghai, China.
The system, equipped with a high-speed line scanner, will be integrated into a new security platform being developed as part of a major national program for security instrumentation.
Shanghai Gaojing Radiography Technology Co., a major supplier of baggage inspection systems, has purchased the latest in industrial terahertz systems, the T-Gauge terahertz sensor from API.
Terahertz has shown significant capability in detecting explosives, drugs, and other threats in packages or checked bags. The T-Gauge sensor was chosen because of its robust performance, its high-speed data acquisition, and its ease of integration.
The purchase was made with the assistance of the Terahertz Research Center of Tianjin University.
Terahertz radiation occupies a spot on the electromagnetic spectrum between microwaves and infrared light. Little understood and hard to generate before the 1990s, "T-rays" are now being eyed for a variety of testing and security applications. Among their most interesting properties — they "see through" many materials without packing the damaging, ionizing punch of X-rays.
Both Shanghai Gaojing and Tianhin University are participating in a national program that is focused on integrating the terahertz system into a security scanner to detect explosives, drugs and other threats. This national program, with close to 40 participating research groups and $10 million in funding, has been formed to develop a new generation of security instruments that will be based on terahertz technology and be used to detect dangerous items such as drugs or explosives.
There is significant demand for this type of equipment in transportation, national security, pharmaceutical research, and generally to safeguard the public.
Tianjin will perform the research portion of the investigation, and Shanghai Gaojing will supply the systems integration.
The T-Gauge was purchased through SkyRay OE, API's distributor in China.
The T-Gauge terahertz sensor is the second product in the next generation T-Ray 5000 product platform. The first product, the Saf-T-Chek ADS, is focused on the security market, and is meant for non-imaging detection of anomalies concealed under headgear or clothing. The T-Gauge sensor, designed for online process control, can be used for imaging, as well as gauging, applications. When coupled with the high-speed line scanner, the T-Gauge provides imaging capability that exceeds all other pulsed terahertz products.
"This sale represents the first step in what we expect to be a strengthening of our marketing and sales efforts into the Chinese market. We are focused on building our product sales, into the industrial process control market and the homeland security market worldwide," said Richard Kurtz, CEO of API.
More at www.advancedphotonix.com.
