Terahertz Time Domain Spectroscopy for Structure-II Gas Hydrates

For the nondestructive inspection of gas hydrates, terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy (TDS) was applied to tetrahydrofuran (THF) hydrate and propane hydrate. The absorption of propane hydrate monotonically increases with frequency, similar to the case of ice, while THF hydrate has a characteristic broad absorption peak at 0.5 THz corresponding to the dipole moment of THF molecules. The refractive indices of THF and propane hydrates are 1.725 and 1.775 at 1 THz, respectively, and show a slight but clear difference from the refractive index of ice (1.79). THz-TDS is a potentially useful technique for the nondestructive inspection of gas hydrates. (C) 2009 The Japan Society of Applied Physics DOI: 10.1143/APEX.2.122303