Range resolved mode mixing in a large volume for the mitigation of speckle and strategic target orientation requirements in active millimeter-wave imaging.

In spite of many reports of active millimeter-wave imaging in the literature, speckle and requirements for cooperative target orientation significantly reduce its practical usefulness. Here we report a new technique, range resolved mode mixing (RRMM), which significantly mitigates both of these issues. It also provides a three-dimensional (3D) image.

Elimination of speckle and target orientation requirements in millimeter-wave active imaging by modulated multimode mixing illumination.

Active imaging can provide significantly larger signal margins in the millimeter-wave spectral region than passive imaging, especially indoors-an important application for which there is no cold sky illumination. However, coherent effects, such as speckle, negate much of this advantage by destroying image clarity and target recognition. Moreover, active imaging demonstrations often use strategically chosen target orientations to optimally reflect power from the active illuminator back to the imaging receiver.