Fast three-dimensional terahertz computed tomography using real-time line projection of intense terahertz pulse

We demonstrated fast three-dimensional transmission terahertz computed tomography by using real-time line projection of intense terahertz beam generated by optical rectification in lithium niobate crystal. After emphasizing the advantage of intense terahertz pulse generation for two-dimensional spatio-temporal terahertz imaging, peak-to-peak amplitudes of pulsed terahertz electric field have been used to obtain a series of projection images at different rotation angles. Then a standard reconstruction algorithm has been employed to perform final three-dimensional reconstruction. Test samples including a medicine capsule have been investigated with a total acquisition time to only 6 minutes. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America