太赫兹时域谱的动物皮革光学特性

利用THz时域谱技术对猪皮、牛皮、羊皮在0.2~1.7 THz波段的吸收特性进行了研究.精确测量其折射率、吸收系数等光学参数用于对皮革成分分析以及质量评价,获得了三种皮革样品的吸收峰位置.该研究成果表明,THz-TDS技术可以用于对皮革成分快速检测.     

硅材料的太赫兹波频域特性分析

对不同电阻率的N型硅材料(电阻率从5~100Ω.cm)在太赫兹波波段的折射率、消光系数和吸收系数等特性参数,利用返波振荡器(BWO)太赫兹波系统进行了测试、计算和分析,得到N型硅在0.23 THz到0.375 THz频段范围内的光学特性.表明在这一波段N型硅的太赫兹波吸收系数随着电阻率的增加而减小,吸收系数最小值可达到3.39×10-4cm-1.分析表明,它将是潜在的太赫兹波波导的最佳候选材料.     

太赫兹时域谱技术快速定性检测奶粉中的三聚氰胺

采用太赫兹时域谱(THz-TDS)技术测量了奶粉中三聚氰胺在0.2~1.8 THz频段的吸收谱和折射率谱,同时运用密度泛函理论(DFT)计算了三聚氰胺在太赫兹波段的振动频率,并据此对实验光谱吸收峰进行了指认,计算结果与实验光谱特征峰很好吻合.表明太赫兹时域谱技术对快速测定识别奶粉中三聚氰胺成分具有良好前景.     

磁控溅射超薄金属膜在太赫兹波段的光学特性

采用THz时域光谱测试技术，对Fe扣Co的超薄金属膜在0.2～2，5THz波段的吸收特性、透射特性以及折射率进行了研究。在室温并去除水份影响的氮气环境中，获得了不同种类扣不同厚度的薄金属膜在太赫兹波段的时域谱．利用Origin7．0扣Matlab7，0软件处理得到这些金属薄膜对太赫兹波的透射率，吸收系数扣折射率．对比发现金属超薄膜在太赫兹波段的光学特性随薄膜厚度以及太赫兹波频率的变化有很大的改变，也就是具有明显的尺寸效应．同时根据所得到的折射率开口吸收系数还可以理论上计算出不同种类与厚度的超薄金属膜在太赫兹波段的复介电函数．     

Terahertz response of ferroelectric nanofibers

Far-infrared optical and dielectric properties of ferroelectric SrTiO3 and BaTiO3 nanofibers, prepared by hydrothermal syntheses, were studied using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. The power absorption, refractive index, and complex dielectric function were characterized in the frequency range from 0.2 to 1.0 THz. The measured results are well reproduced by theoretical fittings based on the dielectric models and the effective medium model. The study reveals that the low-frequency dielectric properties of the ferroelectric SrTiO3 nanofibers are associated with the lowest transverse optical (TO) soft mode TO1 at 2.70 THz (90.0 cm(-1)), and that of the ferroelectric BaTiO3 nanofibers are related to the lowest pair of transverse optical (TO) and longitudinal optical (LO) modes near 5.35 THz, which are both consistent with their bulk single-crystal and thin-film counterparts.     

Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy studies of the optical constants of the nematic liquid crystal 5CB

The optical constants of a nematic liquid crystal, 4'-n-pentyl-4-cyanobiphenyl (5CB), in the frequency range 0.3-1.4 THz were determined by terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy. The real parts of the extraordinary refractive index n(e) and the ordinary refractive index n(o) of 5CB varied from 1.74 to 2.04 and from 1.59 to 1.83, respectively. Liquid-crystal 5CB exhibits a relatively small absorption loss in this frequency range. The birefringence of 5CB was found to be as large as 0.21. The experimental results indicate that liquid crystal 5CB is potentially useful for device applications in the THz frequency range.     

Terahertz pulsed spectroscopy as a new tool for measuring the structuring effect of solutes on water

Absorption spectra of aqueous solution of 'chaotropes' (structure maker) and 'kosmotropes' (structure breaker) have been recorded in the mid-infrared (MIR) and terahertz (THz) spectral region. A different impact of the two groups of solutes on the absorption spectrum of water was found in the recorded THz spectra. A concentration-dependent increased absorption across the investigated THz spectral region (0.04-2 THz, 1.3-66 cm(-1), respectively) has been recorded for all studied chaotropic solutions, whereas the opposite has been obtained for kosmotrope containing solutions. In the case of ionic solutes a further increase in absorption towards higher frequencies was measured. The distinction between chaotrope and kosmotrope solutes was, as expected, also possible in the MIR spectral region. Depending on the structure-forming effect of the solute the OH stretch vibration of the water (around 3400 cm(-1)) was slightly shifted. A red shift has been observed for solution of kosmotropes, whereas a blue shift was observed in the case of solutions containing chaotropes. Compared to the MIR spectral region the structure influencing effect of solutes can be more efficiently studied in the THz spectral region, which provides information from interactions between neighboring water molecules.     

Broad spectrum measurement of the birefringence of an isothiocyanate based liquid crystal

Tunable materials with high anisotropy of refractive index and low loss are of particular interest in the microwave and terahertz range. Nematic liquid crystals are highly sensitive to electric and magnetic fields and may be designed to have particularly high birefringence. In this paper we investigate birefringence and absorption losses in an isothiocyanate based liquid crystal (designed for high anisotropy) in a broad range of the electromagnetic spectrum, namely 0.1-4 GHz, 30 GHz, 0.5-1.8 THz, and in the visible and near-infrared region (400 nm-1600 nm). We report high birefringence (Δn = 0.19-0.395) and low loss in this material. This is attractive for tunable microwave and terahertz device applications.     

Pulsed terahertz attenuated total reflection spectroscopy

Pulsed terahertz attenuated total reflection (ATR) spectra of solid materials and liquids covering the 10 cm(-1) to 120 cm(-1) (0.3 THz to 3.6 THz) region of the electromagnetic spectrum are recorded using a terahertz pulsed spectrometer and silicon ATR modules. Pulsed terahertz ATR measurements are completed nondestructively using small amounts of sample (typically 1 mg for solids) and no sample preparation. Many terahertz analyses can be run in rapid sequence, minimizing the analysis time.     

硅太赫兹波导配置及性能分析

针对现有太赫兹辐射源在输出频率可调性及输出功率方面的局限性。本文从非线性介质的Maxwell方程入手对非线性聚合物的光学性质进行理论分析,建立硅波导配置的数学模型。利用硅材料的高折射率,设计了硅太赫兹波导。分析了太赫兹波导模式图,讨论了硅太赫兹波导模式的有效折射率、波导损耗、连续波输出功率与输出频率的关系,实验结果表明:硅太赫兹波导产生的太赫兹波连续可调,输出太赫兹波频率范围宽至0.1THz到15THz,输出功率可达到微瓦级。     

Method for measuring small optical absorption coefficients with use of a Shack-Hartmann wave-front detector

We present a method for measuring absorption at the 1 x 10(-5) cm(-1) level in high-quality optical materials. Using a Shack-Hartmann wave-front detector, thermal lensing in these materials may be measured. Then, the absorption coefficient may be estimated by fitting the observed deformation to a thermal lensing model based on the temperature dependences of the refractive index and the thermal expansion coefficient. For a particular sample of fused silica, the absorption coefficient was determined to be 1.8 +/- 0.4 x 10(-5) cm(-1). Obtaining this result requires a resolution in the optical path length better than +/- 0.1 nm.     

Characterization of original and expanded leaf-roots of tobacco by terahertz spectroscopy and X-ray microanalysis

Expanded leaf-roots of tobacco are used as fillers into cigarette products to reduce cost and contents of tar and nicotine and improve quality. To study the difference between expanded and original leaf-roots of tobacco, terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy was used to detect the absorption spectra in the frequency range from 0.2 to 1.5 THz. Significant difference in terahertz absorption was observed in original and expanded leaf-roots. To understand the origin, scanning electron microscope was employed for microanalysis, revealing the difference in element compositions and surface appearances between original and expended leaf-roots. Non-polar and low-polar components of leaf-roots were largely lost after dissolving into liquid CO₂ during expansion, accounting for the difference in THz absorption spectroscopy.     

Quantitative measurements of amino acids by terahertz time-domain transmission spectroscopy

The quantitative analysis of amino acids by terahertz (THz) time-domain absorption spectroscopy is demonstrated. The optical densities of the amino acids were found to be linearly proportional to the concentration. The molar absorption coefficients of L-glutamic acid (L-Glu), L-glutamic acid sodium salt (Na-L-Glu), L-glutamic acid hydrochloric salt (HCl-L-Glu), L-cysteine (L-Cys), and L-histidine (L-His) were calculated by averaging the THz spectra of the amino acids at several different concentrations in approximately the 0.2-1.0 mol L(-1) range. The concentrations of L-Glu, L-Cys, and L-His mixed samples were successfully calculated with errors of less than 11% and 20% when their concentrations were higher than 0.45 and 0.22 mol L(-1), respectively, by using the obtained molar absorption coefficient.     

Terahertz multistatic reflection imaging

We describe a new imaging method using single-cycle pulses of terahertz (THz) radiation. This technique emulates the data collection and image processing procedures developed for geophysical prospecting and is made possible by the availability of fiber-coupled THz receiver antennas. We use a migration procedure to solve the inverse problem; this permits us to reconstruct the location, the shape, and the refractive index of targets. We show examples for both metallic and dielectric model targets, and we perform velocity analysis on dielectric targets to estimate the refractive indices of imaged components. These results broaden the capabilities of THz imaging systems and also demonstrate the viability of the THz system as a test bed for the exploration of new seismic processing methods.     

Modeling of the refractive index and extinction coefficient of binary composite films

Southwell's analysis of optical multilayers within the limits of very thin films has been extended to include absorption in the multilayer for predicting the effective values of the refractive index n(e) and extinction coefficient k(e) of mixed-composition binary homogeneous films over a wide spectral region, including the high-absorption (k > 10(-2)) region. It has been found that n(e) in general is a complicated function of the optical parameters (n(1), k(1), n(2), k(2)) and volume fractions (f(1), f(2)) of the component materials in a homogeneous layer, and the expression for n(e) becomes the same as that predicted by the Drude model in the spectral region where the layers are transparent. Moreover, according to the present analysis, the volume fractions of the product of the refractive index and the extinction coefficient of the component materials of a binary composite film are additive and the sum equals the product of the effective refractive index and extinction coefficient of the composite film.     

Material parameter estimation with terahertz time-domain spectroscopy.

Imaging systems based on terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy offer a range of unique modalities owing to the broad bandwidth, subpicosecond duration, and phase-sensitive detection of the THz pulses. Furthermore, the possibility exists for combining spectroscopic characterization or identification with imaging because the radiation is broadband in nature. To achieve this, we require novel methods for real-time analysis of THz waveforms. This paper describes a robust algorithm for extracting material parameters from measured THz waveforms. Our algorithm simultaneously obtains both the thickness and the complex refractive index of an unknown sample under certain conditions. In contrast, most spectroscopic transmission measurements require knowledge of the sample's thickness for an accurate determination of its optical parameters. Our approach relies on a model-based estimation, a gradient descent search, and the total variation measure. We explore the limits of this technique and compare the results with literature data for optical parameters of several different materials.     

Low loss nitride ceramics for terahertz windows

Terahertz frequency transmission measurements on ceramic boron nitride and aluminium nitride are described. The absorption coefficients and refractive indices of these materials show that they have high terahertz transparency, which together with their high melting temperatures and mechanical strength makes them particularly suitable for use as THz windows in high pressure and/or high temperature applications.     

Improvement of minimum paint film thickness for THz paint meters by multiple-regression analysis

We propose a numerical parameter fitting method to determine the time delay between two temporally overlapped echo pulses in terahertz (THz) tomography measurements. The method is based on multiple-regression analysis with the least-squares method and is applied to decrease the minimum paint film thickness for THz paint meters. Applying multiple-regression analysis to paint thickness measurements is five times more sensitive with regard to the minimum thickness than numerical Fourier deconvolution. We apply the proposed method to determine the optical thickness, geometrical thickness, and group refractive index of dry paint film and wet paint film. The proposed method is useful for decreasing the minimum thickness for a THz paint meter and other THz tomography measurements.     

Characteristics of highly sensitive terahertz wave detector based on lithium niobate

The characteristics of a highly sensitive terahertz wave detector based on lithium niobate have been investigated using a steady-state theory. The contributions of the low-frequency modes to the dielectric constant of lithium niobate are considered. The intrinsic factors of the LN detector limit its high frequency response to about 4?THz. Temperature dependence of the detector from room temperature to 250°C was also studied. The main factors associated with the temperature variations of the sensitivity of the detector are thermal expansion, the nonlinear coefficient and the refractive index of the crystal. The nonlinear coefficient dominates the temperature dependence of the sensitivity of the detector, while the impact of the refractive indices of the near-infrared lights on the temperature variation of the sensitivity of the detector is negligible. This study provides a useful guide and a theoretical basis for the further improvement of the detection systems.     

Optical-induced absorption tunability of Barium Strontium Titanate film

The absorption tunability of 100 nm thickness of ferroelectric Barium Strontium Titanate (Ba_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃) thin films with different densities of pumped optical field is measured by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy in the range of 0.2 THz – 1.2 THz at 19 °C. Experimental results show that the absorption coefficient of BST film is approximately at 5000 cm⁻¹–20000 cm⁻¹ in the range of 0.2 THz – 1.2 THz and the absorption coefficient reached up to 16% when we applied the optical field up to 600 mW. The theoretical calculations reveal that increasing photoexcitation fluences is responsible for the increasing of transmission change in the conduction current density cause the absorption coefficient varied.