Experimental results of two-dimensional homodyne terahertz interferometric imaging are presented. The
performance of an N element detector array is imitated by only one detector placed at N positions.
Continuous waves at 0.25-0.3 THz are used to detect concealed objects: a metal object and an RDX
sample. The terahertz interferometric imaging method can be used in defense and security applications to
detect concealed weapons, explosives as well as chemical and biological agents.
Experimental results of homodyne terahertz interferometric 1-D and 2-D imaging are presented. Continuous waves at 0.25-0.3 THz are used to detect a metal object behind a barrier. The performance of an N element detector array is imitated by only one detector placed at N positions. The reconstructed images are in a good agreement with theoretical predictions. The terahertz interferometric imaging method can be used in defense and security applications to detect concealed weapons, explosives as well as chemical and biological agents.
In recent times, Terahertz (1 THz = 1012 cycles/sec and 300 μm in wavelength) spectroscopy has become a promising technique for spectroscopic identification of different materials having contemporary interest. In this study we report a direct measurement of reflection spectra of the explosive C-4, which shows significant absorption around 0.8 THz, using THz time domain spectroscopic techniques. A contrast in reflection of around 8% has also been observed between the neighboring frequencies of 0.7 THz and 0.9 THz. The spectral data have been used to create realistic synthetic images for use in simulations of interferometric detection in a stand-off THz imaging system. The results obtained are analyzed using Artificial Neural Networks for positive identification of the agents with an interferometric array of few linear detectors in near field mode.
In recent times, the far infrared or the terahertz (1 THz = 1012 cycles/sec and 300μm in wavelength) region of electromagnetic spectrum has become a promising radiation for spectroscopic identification of different types of biomaterials. The present work investigates the effect of grain size on the THz spectra of chalk, salt, sugar and flour using THz time-domain spectroscopy. It has been observed that at lower frequencies, solids of small grain sizes of nonabsorbing materials show rising trends in their extinction spectra. Here, we obtain extinction spectra of granular salt, chalk, sugar and flour between 0.2 to 1.2 THz and show that the experimentally obtained extinction can be predicted on the basis of the Mie Scattering model for small grain sizes. The current study is an attempt to understand the absorption spectrum of a few such materials having no significant intrinsic absorption in the THz region by separating the independent contributions of true absorption of the material and scattering losses due to its morphology in the extinction of the material. This would help in distinguishing these materials based on their rising trend of the extinction spectra at lower frequencies.
In recent times, terahertz (THz) or the far-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum has gained critical significance due to many potential applications including medical diagnostics, nondestructive evaluation of material parameters, chemical sensing, remote sensing and security screening. However with the development of various applications, the need of guided systems for the transmission of THz radiation have posed a challenge, as a flexible waveguide could simplify the propagation and detection of THz waves in remote locations without atmospheric absorption. Different structures, such as, rigid hollow metallic waveguides, solid wires, or short lengths of solid-core transparent dielectrics such as sapphire and plastic have already been explored for THz guiding to characterize their individual loss and dispersion profile. Recently, it has been reported that copper coated flexible, hollow polycarbonate waveguide has low loss of less than 4 dB/m with single mode operation at 1.89 THz. In the present study, using a broadband THz source of photoconductive antennae, we characterize the loss and dispersion profile of hollow core polycarbonate metal waveguides in the frequency range of 0.2 to 1.2 THz.
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