Volumetric spectral analysis of materials using terahertz-tomography techniques

We present for the first time a system and new algorithms for spectral THz-tomography. The electric field of single cycle ultra short THz-pulses can be measured time resolved in amplitude and phase. By focusing ultra short THz-pulses to a sample and analyzing the transmitted or reflected beams the inner structure of the sample can be investigated with a resolution up to 0.4 mm by evaluating the time resolved data. Thus a spectrum of every scanned THz-pulse can be calculated with the usage of the fast Fourier transform. In contrast to classical computed tomography (CT) with X-rays a higher amount of information can be obtained. Based on the characteristic absorption spectra of varying materials it is now possible to identify different substances inside a sample by terahertz-tomography with probabilities that are higher than 80%.