Terahertz wave radar offers a higher resolution and smaller aperture compared with microwave radar. However, despite the emergence of terahertz sources and detectors suitable for radar front ends, the integration of a phased-array radar system remains challenging due to the lack of phase shifters and circulators, the basic components for beam steering and input–output isolation. Here we show that leaky-wave coherence tomography, which can integrate a terahertz radar system using a pair of reverse-connected leaky-wave antennas, can be used to implement beam steering and homodyne detection in one package. Our approach can detect direction and range without using phase shifters, circulators, half-mirrors, lenses or mechanical scanners, providing a compact, penetrating and high-resolution radar system suitable for mobile devices and drones. To illustrate the capabilities of the technique, we use it to create a remote heartbeat detector that can measure the chest displacement of a person through their clothes.

与微波雷达相比，太赫兹波雷达具有更高的分辨率和更小的孔径。然而，尽管出现了适用于雷达前端的太赫兹源和检测器，但由于缺少移相器和循环器，波束转向和输入输出隔离的基本组件，相控阵雷达系统的集成仍然具有挑战性。在这里，我们展示了泄漏波相干断层扫描技术，可以使用一对反向连接的泄漏波天线将太赫兹雷达系统集成在一起，可以用于在一个封装中实现波束控制和零差检测。我们的方法无需使用移相器，循环器，半反射镜，透镜或机械扫描器即可检测方向和范围，从而提供适用于移动设备和无人机的紧凑，穿透力强的高分辨率雷达系统。