1. 3D chemical mapping using terahertz pulsed imaging
- Author
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Philip F. Taday, Michael C. Kemp, Yaochun Shen, David A. Newnham, and Michael Pepper
- Subjects
Chemical imaging ,Materials science ,Explosive material ,business.industry ,Terahertz radiation ,Fingerprint recognition ,symbols.namesake ,Optics ,Fourier transform ,Frequency domain ,symbols ,Waveform ,Time domain ,business - Abstract
We report the use of a terahertz pulsed imaging technique for three-dimensional chemical mapping. Terahertz radiation reflected from a sample was measured pixel-by-pixel in time domain using a terahertz pulsed imaging system developed at TeraView Ltd, UK. The recorded terahertz waveforms were then transformed into frequency domain using time-partitioned Fourier transform. Structural maps of samples were obtained by analyzing the terahertz time-domain data whilst chemical maps were obtained from terahertz spectral data sets. For a sample comprising chemical A at the surface of a polyethylene pellet and chemical B buried inside the pellet, we have separated the component spatial patterns of the two chemicals using their spectral fingerprints. The reconstructed three-dimensional chemical maps not only locate the chemicals in the object, but also identify each chemical. We also demonstrate the capabilities of terahertz pulsed imaging for non-destructive analysis of coating thickness and quality, and for detecting and identifying explosive materials such as RDX.
- Published
- 2005