Jingling Shen

Detection and identification of illicit drugs using terahertz imaging

We demonstrated an advanced terahertz imaging technique for detection and identification of illicit drugs by introducing the component spatial pattern analysis. As an explanation, the characteristic fingerprint spectra and refractive index of ketamine were first measured with terahertz time-domain spectroscopy both in the air and nitrogen. The results obtained in the ambient air indicated that some absorption peaks are not obvious or probably not dependable. It is necessary and important to present a more practical technique for the detection. The spatial distributions of several illicit drugs [3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, methylenedioxyamphetamine, heroin, acetylcodeine, morphine, and ketamine], widely consumed in the world, were obtained from terahertz images using absorption spectra previously measured in the range from 0.2to2.6THz in the ambient air. The different kinds of pure illicit drugs hidden in mail envelopes were inspected and identified. It could be an effective method in the field of s...

High-temporal-resolution, single-shot characterization of terahertz pulses

A technique for noncollinear cross correlation of electro-optic modulated optical pulses is presented for the single-shot characterization of terahertz waveforms and is compared to established electro-optic terahertz characterization methods. This technique is free from the limitations on time resolution and faithful reproduction of previously demonstrated single-shot amplitude modulation spectral encoding.

Plasma characterization with terahertz time-domain measurements

Terahertz time–domain spectral techniques are applied to the characterization of a He discharge plasma. Electro-optically sampling of the electric field of a quasi-unipolar terahertz pulse transmitted through the plasma has allowed both the real and imaginary parts of the plasma permittivity to be simultaneously measured over a large spectral range. The plasma density and the collisional frequency are determined within a 30 ps duration measurement window. An anomalously high collisional frequency has been measured.

High-efficiency THz modulator based on phthalocyanine-compound organic films

We report a high efficiency, broadband terahertz (THz) modulator following a study of phthalocyanine-compound organic films irradiated with an external excitation laser. Both transmission and reflection modulations of each organic/silicon bilayers were measured using THz time-domain and continuous-wave systems. For very low intensities, the experimental results show that AlClPc/Si can achieve a high modulation factor for transmission and reflection, indicating that AlClPc/Si has a superior modulation efficiency compared with the other films (CuPc and SnCl2Pc). In contrast, the strong attenuation of the transmitted and reflected THz waves revealed that a nonlinear absorption process takes place at the organic/silicon interface.

Active terahertz device based on optically controlled organometal halide perovskite

An active all-optical high-efficiency broadband terahertz device based on an organometal halide perovskite (CH₃NH₃PM₃, MAPbI₃)/inorganic (Si) structure is investigated. Spectrally broadband modulation of the THz transmission is obtained in the frequency range from 0.2 to 2.6 THz, and a modulation depth of nearly 100% can be achieved with a low-level photoexcitation power (~0.4 W/cm²). Both THz transmission and reflection were suppressed in the MAPbI₃/Si structure by an external continuous-wave (CW) laser. Enhancement of the charge carrier density at the MAPbI₃/Si interface is crucial for photo-induced absorption. The results show that the proposed high-efficiency broadband optically-controlled terahertz device based on the MAPbI₃/Si structure has been realized.

Vibrational spectra of ketamine hydrochloride and 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine in terahertz range

The terahertz spectrum of ketamine hydrochloride at room temperature, in the range of 0.2–2.6THz, has been measured by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (TDS). Full-geometry optimizations and frequency calculations using the density functional theory (DFT) are also applied to predict the absorption spectra of ketamine hydrochloride and 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). The results of the simulation show qualitative agreement with the experimental data especially for MDMA, and the observed spectra features are assigned based on the DFT calculation. The results suggest that use of the terahertz TDS technique can be an effective method for the detection and inspection of illicit drugs.

Improvement of amplified spontaneous emission performance of conjugated polymer waveguides with a low loss cladding

We report the improvement of the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) performance in the optically pumped symmetric thin film waveguide glass/indium-tin oxide (ITO)/SiO2/poly[2-methoxy-5-(2′-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene]/SiO2/Al or Ag by optimizing the thickness of SiO2 and replacing the Al electrode with Ag, where SiO2 acted as a spacer layer to prevent the ASE at 620 nm from being destructed. The results show that the SiO2/Ag cladding reduced the ASE threshold to 4 μJ/pulse compared with the SiO2/Al cladding, owing to the higher work function and reflection rate as well as lower absorption loss of the Ag electrode. No photoluminescence at 580 nm being observed makes it possible for an electric field to only modulate the ASE at 620 nm in the device with the SiO2/Ag cladding. The electric-field quenching of the ASE has been observed, which increases with the electric field. The field dependence of ASE can be attributed to field-induced dissociation of photogenerated excitons in the polymer waveguides.

Goos-Hänchen shifts of reflected terahertz wave on a COC-air interface

Goos-Hänchen (GH) shifts of terahertz wave reflected on the Cyclo-Olefin Copolymer (COC)-air interface was investigated in simulation and experiment. The relationship between the GH shifts with the incident angle and the frequency of incident wave were calculated to get a reference for the simulation and experiment. The reflected GH shift was measured on the COC-air interface when a terahertz wave with the frequency of 0.206 THz was incident to a COC double-prism. By changing the thickness of the air layer we find experimentally and simulatively that the GH shift and the energy of the reflected wave increases with the increase of the air layer thickness. The study of GH shift can provide useful information for applications of THz waves in sensor and power delivery systems.

Identification of explosives and drugs and inspection of material defects with THz radiation

We report the sensing of explosive materials and illicit drugs by using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) and imaging. Several explosive materials, such as γ-HNIW, RDX, 2,4-DNT, TNT, Nitro-aniline, and illicit drugs, such as methamphetamine (MA) etc were researched here. Non-destructive testing, as one of the major applications of THz imaging, can be applied to an area of critical need: the testing of aerospace materials. Composite materials such as carbon fiber are widely used in this industry. The nature of their use requires technologies that are able to differentiate between safe and unsafe materials, due to either manufacturing tolerance or damage acquired while in use. In this paper, we discuss the applicability of terahertz (THz) imaging systems to this purpose, focusing on graphite fiber composite materials, carbon silicon composite materials and so on. We applied THz imaging technology to evaluate the fire damage to a variety of carbon fiber composite samples. Major carbon fiber materials have polarization-dependent reflectivity in THz frequency range, and we show how the polarization dependence changes versus the burned damage level. Additionally, time domain information acquired through a THz time-domain spectroscopy (TDS) system provides further information with which to characterize the damage. We also detect fuel tank insulation foam panel defects with pulse and continuous-wave (CW) terahertz system.

3D locations of the object directly from in-line holograms using the Gabor transform

In-line holography is a simple way for small object imaging. The Gabor transform is used for object characterization directly from in-line holograms. Three-dimensional locations of an object can be determined from the Gabor transform spectrum of its in-line hologram. The relationship between the Gabor angle and the location of the object is established, Computer simulations and experimental result have been presented to demonstrate the validity of this method for object charactering. The promising application of this method is particle field analysis.