Samuel Peter Mickan et al 2004 J. Opt. B: Quantum Semiclass. Opt. 6 S786 doi:10.1088/1464-4266/6/8/025
Samuel Peter Mickan1,4, Regina Shvartsman2, Jesper Munch3, Xi-Cheng Zhang2 and Derek Abbott1
Show affiliationsLiquid transmission studies at terahertz frequencies (0.1–10 THz) are valuable for understanding solvation dynamics of salts, exploring long-range structure in mixtures and probing biomolecules in suspension. T-ray (or THz) time-domain spectroscopy, based on terahertz pulse generation from ultrafast lasers, is a sensitive technique for measuring material parameters in this frequency range. This paper proposes and demonstrates a novel technique for increasing the sensitivity and repeatability of liquid studies with T-ray time-domain spectroscopy (TDS), reducing relative parameter measurement errors below 0.0001. The proposed technique combines dual-thickness liquid measurement with rapid modulation (double-modulated differential TDS) to reduce the effect of both thickness-measurement errors and T-ray noise errors below 0.0001. The possible reduction in error is calculated and a liquid differential TDS (DTDS) prototype is demonstrated, incorporating amplitude and mean detection for near-simultaneous measurement of two T-ray waveforms.
Soft matter, liquids and polymers
Issue 8 (August 2004)
Received 15 December 2003, accepted for publication 22 March 2004
Published 27 July 2004
Samuel Peter Mickan et al 2004 J. Opt. B: Quantum Semiclass. Opt. 6 S786
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