Dual-frequency imaging using an electrically tunable terahertz quantum cascade laser

Author

Dean, Paul ; Saat, N.K. ; Khanna, Suraj P. ; Salih, Mohammed ; Burnett, Andrew ; Cunningham, John ; Linfield, Edmund H. ; Davies, A. Giles

Author_Institution

Sch. of Electron. & Electr. Eng., Univ. of Leeds, Leeds, UK

fYear

2009

fDate

21-25 Sept. 2009

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

2

Abstract

We report dual-frequency imaging using an electrically tunable terahertz frequency quantum cascade laser (QCL). Images of powdered materials including the explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) were acquired at 3.05 THz and 3.24 THz in a single scan. We show that it is possible to distinguish PETN from other materials by taking the difference-transmission and difference-attenuation images. We also demonstrate difference-intensity imaging by combining amplitude modulation of the QCL bias with lock-in detection.

Keywords

amplitude modulation; explosives; laser beam applications; laser tuning; optical modulation; organic compounds; powders; quantum cascade lasers; terahertz wave imaging; PETN; amplitude modulation; difference-attenuation images; difference-intensity imaging; difference-transmission images; dual-frequency imaging; electrically tunable terahertz laser; explosive; frequency 3.05 THz; frequency 3.24 THz; lock-in detection; pentaerythritol tetranitrate; powdered materials; quantum cascade laser; Optical imaging; Quantum cascade lasers; Tunable circuits and devices;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves, 2009. IRMMW-THz 2009. 34th International Conference on

Conference_Location

Busan

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-5416-7

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4244-5417-4

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ICIMW.2009.5325590

Filename

5325590