太赫兹(THz)成像的进展概况

评述了太赫兹射线成像的进展情况.太赫兹(THz)辐射介于微波和红外之间.与微波、X射线、核磁共振(NMR)成像相比,太赫兹成像不仅能给出物体的密度信息,而且能给出频率域的信息,以及在光频、微波和X射线范围内所不能给出的材料的转动、振动信息.太赫兹射线与其他频段的电磁波相比,它能量低,不会造成对生物样品的电离损伤,而且太赫兹射线很容易穿过介电材料,因而可以用于产品的安全监测.因此太赫兹成像技术在生物学、工业安全监测等方面有可能带来新的关键性的突破.

Review of the progress of T-ray imaging

We present an overview of recent progress of T-ray imaging. Compared with microwave, X-ray imaging and NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance), T-ray imaging can give us not only the density picture but also the phase information within the frequency domain. The unique rotational, vibrational and translational responses of materials (molecular, radicals and ions) within the THz range provide information that is generally absent in optical, X-ray and NMR images.The important characteristic of T-ray is that it has potential to detect the nature of low energy processes in physics, chemistry and biomedicine without the ionization. T-rays can also easily penetrate and image inside most dielectric materials, which make it a useful and complementary imaging source.