The International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves (IRMMW-THz), begun in 1974, is the oldest and largest continuous forum specifically devoted to the field of ultra high frequency electronics and applications. In 2004 the original conference series – International Conference on Infrared and Millimeter Waves (IRMMW) joined up with the International Conference on THz Electronics to form the Joint 29th International Conference on Infrared and Millimeter Waves and the 12th International Conference on Terahertz Electronics (IRMMW-THz 2004). In 2008 the conference name was shortened to the 33rd International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves, keeping the same general acronym: IRMMW-THz 20XX. In 2009 the conference series was formally incorporated into a mutual benefit science society registered in the state of California, USA. The society was granted full non-profit status as a US 501c3 corporation in May 2016. The International Society of Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves (IRMMW-THz) has the mission statement: “Promoting the worldwide collection, dissemination and exchange of scientific and technical knowledge in the areas and disciplines involving infrared, millimeter, and terahertz waves.” The IRMMW-THz Society has a permanent Board of Directors, official By-Laws, and independent financial resources, and will assure the continuation of the conference series for the foreseeable future.
The IRMMW conference and its long standing accompanying monthly publication, The Journal of Infrared, Millimeter and Terahertz Waves, were among the very first scientific outlets for the burgeoning field of far infrared components and instruments that arose in the mid 1970s. The scope of the conference extends from millimeter wave devices, components and systems to far-infrared detectors and instruments, and encompasses micro- and nano-scale structures to large-scale accelerators and Tokamaks and their applications. In 2011 a new focused THz journal, IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology was added to the list of linked technical outlets for members of the IRMMW-THz Society.
The international organizing committee is composed of world-recognized experts from countries across the globe. The conference typically alternates between the USA, Asia and Europe on a three year cycle. Past conferences have been supported by US agencies such as IEEE, APS, DOE and DoD and dozens of local societies within the hosting countries. In 2003 both the IRMMW and THz Electronics conferences were held sequentially in Japan. Total attendees for both events was 520 registrants from 18 countries with 340 submitted papers. After 2003 the two conferences joined and attendance in 2004 (Karlsruhe, Germany) exceeded 450 scientists from 28 countries with over 400 contributed papers. From 2005 to 2019 the attendance grew slowly reaching a peak of over 1000 for our 44th conference in 2019 in Paris, France. Covid 19 forced the 2020 and 2021 venues (Buffalo, NY , USA and Chengdu, China) to all virtual platforms, but the attendance was well over 1100 at each event and paper counts were above 800 for each of these venues. The conference continues to thrive and grow with the THz field and we plan to move back to our very personalized and globally attended in-person conferences as soon as circumstances allow.
Sandwiched between the optical on the short wavelength side and radio on the long wavelength extreme, the Terahertz or Far-Infrared has long been considered the last remaining scientific gap in the electromagnetic spectrum. Due to the historic role the IRMMW conference has played in bridging this gap by bringing together international researchers in many diverse fields – from space science to nuclear fusion – and recently chemistry and biology, the organizing committees would again like to reach out to scientists in adjacent fields who can benefit from recent developments in the far-IR.
In the last few years interest in terahertz imaging and spectroscopy from the biology, security, ultra-fast chemistry and health science communities has grown exponentially as new instrumentation and techniques have begun to make their way into many laboratories world-wide. This is especially the case in Europe and Japan, both of which have thriving cross-disciplinary programs supporting new applications in this frequency domain.
As a consequence the conference organizing committees have significantly expanded the scope and the participating research communities. They have now included a special focus on terahertz techniques and applications, including both the traditional radio frequency domain, and the new fast pulse time domain approaches to generating, detecting and using high frequency energy. The conference offers the attendee a chance to hear and participate in a wide range of topic areas that span all aspects of Infrared, Terahertz and Millimeter-Wave (IR, THz, and MMW) technology and applications from quantum physics, chemistry, and biology to radio astronomy, plasma physics and security.
Over the coming years we are looking forward to very well attended and internationally supported cross-disciplinary conference venues that will set IRMMW-THz up as the pre-eminent conference for information exchange in the “Terahertz Gap.”
Major Topic Areas
The following is a representative list of topics typically covered at the conference:
- New IR, THz and MMW applications in Biology and Medicine
- IR, THz and MMW Imaging, especially biomedical applications
- Ultra-fast Components and Measurements in Chemistry and Physics
- IR, THz and MMW Astronomy, Atmospheric and Environmental Science Applications
- IR, THz and MMW Spectroscopy, Instrumentation and Material Properties
- IR, THz and MMW Applications in Security and Defense
- MMW Telecommunication and Industrial Applications
- Ultra High Speed MMW Digital Devices
- MMW and Submillimeter-Wave Radar and Communications
- MMW systems, Transmission Lines and Antennas
- Gyro-Oscillators and Amplifiers
- Free Electron Lasers and Synchrotron Radiation
- Plasma Diagnostics
- Novel devices and Instruments for IR, THz and MMW applications
- THz Devices, Components and Instruments; Frequency and Time Domain.
- IR, THz, and MMW Sources, Detectors and Receivers
- IR, THZ and MMW Future Applications, Markets and Directions
Special THz Pioneer Series Articles from IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology
This series of technical articles highlights the careers of individuals who have made significant long term contributions to the field of Terahertz Science and Technology. They appear as the lead articles in each issue of the IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology and are available for reading or download free of charge through the IEEE Oral History site: https://ethw.org/Archives:THz_Pioneers. Enjoy their wisdom and their insights!
David H. Auston – Working Collectively to Combine Complementary Knowledge, Perspectives and Talents (vol. 1, no.1, Sept. 2011)
Paul L. Richards – Working at the Edge – Transition Edge Sensors and the Edge of the Universe (vol. 1, no. 2, Nov. 2011)
Maurice F. Kimmitt – A Person Who Makes Things Work (vol. 2, no. 1, Jan. 2012)
Robert W. Wilson – The Foundations of THz Radio Science (vol. 2., no. 2, March 2012)
Richard J. Saykally – Water, Water Everywhere… (vol. 2, no. 3, May 2012)
Daniel R. Grischkowsky – We Search for Truth and Beauty (vol. 2, no.4, July 2012)
Thomas G. Phillips – The Sky Above, the Mountain Below (vol. 2, no. 5, Sept. 2012)
Frank C. DeLucia – The Numbers Count (vol. 2, no. 6, Nov. 2012)
Federico Capasso – Physics by Design: Engineering Our Way Out of the THz Gap (vol. 3, no. 1, Jan. 2013)
Koji Mizuno – 50 Years in Submillimeter-Waves: From Otaku to Sensei (vol. 3, no. 2, March 2013)
Manfred and Brenda Pruden Winnewisser – Equating Hamiltonians to Nature (vol. 3, no. 3, May 2013)
Philippe Goy – If You Agree with the Majority You Might be Wrong (vol. 3, no. 4, July 2013)
Fritz Keilmann – RF Biophysics: From Strong Field to Near Field (vol. 3, no. 5, Sept. 2013)
Sir John Pendry – Theoretical Physics for a Practical World (vol. 3, no. 6, Nov. 2013)
Shenggang Liu – China’s Father of Vacuum and Microwave Electronics (vol. 4, no.1, Jan. 2014)
Thijs de Graauw – Intention, Attention, Execution (vol. 4, no. 2, Mar. 2014)
Tatsuo Itoh – Transmission Lines and Antennas, Left and Right (vol. 4. no. 3, May 2014)
Michael Bass – The THz Light at the End of the Tunnel (vol. 4. no. 4, July 2014)
Erik Kollberg – Instrument Maker to the “Stars” (vol.4 no. 5, Sept. 2014)
Robert J. Mattauch – Two Terminals are Sufficient (vol. 4, no. 6, Nov. 2014)
Hiromasa Ito – Generating THz Energy is Crystal Clear (vol. 5, no. 1, Jan. 2015)
Jun-Ichi Nishizawa – THz Shogun (vol. 5, no. 2, Mar. 2015)
Derek H. Martin – The Mesh that Helped Ensnare the Cosmic Microwave Background (vol. 5, no. 3, May 2015)
Paul F. Goldsmith – New Eyes for THz Astronomers (vol. 5, no. 4, July 2015)
Xi-Cheng Zhang – The Face of THz (vol. 5, no. 5, Sept. 2015)
Joe W. Waters – THz Meets Gaia (vol. 5, no. 6, Nov. 2015)
ADDITIONAL NEW ARTICLES COVERING BOTH THz and MICROWAVE PIONEERS FROM THE IEEE JOURNAL OF MICROWAVES
(also available for no charge at https://ethw.org/Archives:THz_and_Microwave_Pioneers)
NOBEL LAUREATE John C. Mather – A Singular Purpose, (IEEE J. Microwaves, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 25-31, Jan. 2021)
GaAs FET INVENTOR Carver Mead – It’s All About Thinking, A Personal Account Leading up to the First Microwave Transistor, (IEEE J. Microwaves, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 269-274, Jan. 2021)
MICROWAVES OVER FIBER DEVELOPER Kam Lau – Microwaves Meets Photons, {IEE J. Microwaves, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 540-49, April 2021)
EM ANALYSIS EXPERT Linda Katehi – Women in Microwaves, (IEEE J. Microwaves, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 689-97, July 2021)
MICROWAVES IN MEDICINE PIONEER Arye Rosen – Microwaves in Medicine was Just my Hobby, (IEEE J. Microwaves, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 698-703, July 2021)
JPL DIRECTOR Charles Elachi – Dare Mighty Things, (IEEE J. Microwaves, vol. 2, no. 1, 10 pages, Jan. 2022)
IEEE PRESIDENT K.J. Ray Liu – Changing the World with Microwave Time Reversal Focusing, (IEEE J. Microwaves, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 360-373, July 2023)