Optical constants of CuO and ZnO particles in the terahertz frequency range

 Calvo-de la Rosa, Jaume, Alexandre Locquet, Denis Bouscaud, Sophie Berveiller, and D. S. Citrin. "Optical constants of CuO and ZnO particles in the terahertz frequency range." Ceramics International (2020).

Abstract

The optical constants (complex dielectric function) of CuO and ZnO particles in polyethylene pellets are measured by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. The determination of the dielectric properties of these materials is of interest for energy-storage applications, for instance. Maxwell-Garnett theory is used to extract the contribution to the frequency-dependent optical constants of the oxide powders. The validity of the assumptions of Maxwell-Garnett theory are experimentally verified and self-consistency of the results of the model confirmed. On this basis, experimental complex permittivity values for isotropic CuO and ZnO oxide powders are reported in the 100 GHz-3 THz range.

for full paper see https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272884220318502

"THz transmission data through the pellets were obtained using a TeraView TPS Spectra 3000 in transmission mode. The experimental bandwidth (power spectrum of "

Terahertz Time-of-Flight Tomography Beyond the Axial Resolution Limit: Autoregressive Spectral Estimation Based on the Modified Covariance Method

Zhai, Min, Alexandre Locquet, Cyrielle Roquelet, and D. S. Citrin. "Terahertz Time-of-Flight Tomography Beyond the Axial Resolution Limit: Autoregressive Spectral Estimation Based on the Modified Covariance Method." Journal of Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves (2020): 1-14.

Abstract

We present a time-of-flight tomography method for exceeding the naïve axial (i.e., depth) resolution limit of terahertz (THz) deconvolution by autoregressive spectral extrapolation (AR) based on the modified covariance method (AR/MCM). In contrast to Wiener filtering combined with wavelet denoising, AR/MCM does not discard any frequency components in the low signal-to-noise (SNR) regions of the measured data, and unlike the AR approach based on the Burg method (AR/BM), no peak splitting (single peaks in the impulse response function appearing as double peaks) as well as frequency bias (spectral peaks shifted with respect to their correct positions) is observed after deconvolution. After verifying the advantages of AR/MCM over Wiener filtering in conjunction with wavelet denoising as well as over AR/BM, using synthetic data, AR/MCM is employed to reconstruct a single layer of mill scale on a steel coupon from experimental THz time-of-flight tomography data. The reconstruction shows good agreement with the film thickness obtained from destructive cross-sectional measurements. In addition, unlike AR/BM, optimizing the parameters to obtain stable reconstruction is straightforward relying of Akaike’s information criterion suggesting that AR/MCM can be an easier to implement for THz nondestructive characterization of stratigraphy under noisy conditions, particularly when estimates of the stratigraphy may not a priori be available.

Full paper can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10762-020-00722-1

… that minimizes the AIC. Experiment. The measurement in this work is carried out using a pulsed, broadband THz time domain system from TeraView Ltd. (TPSSpectra 3000), shown schematically in Fig. 1. The GaAs photoconductive …

High performance of talented copper/magneso-zinc titanate nanostructures as biocidal agents for inactivation of pathogens during wastewater disinfection

Nahrawy, Amany M. El, Ahmed M. Bakr, Ali B. Abou Hammad, and Bahaa A. Hemdan. "High performance of talented copper/magneso-zinc titanate nanostructures as biocidal agents for inactivation of pathogens during wastewater disinfection." Applied Nanoscience: 1-17.

Abstract

In the present research, the performance of MZT nano-titanate was established by combining (0.3–0.5) copper nanoparticles (0–0.5C-MZT) to improve the antimicrobial efficacy of promising engineered nanomaterials. XRD characterized the phase purity confirms the formation of magneto-zinc and copper titanates at 750 °C. The morphological features of four engineering nanoceramics were accurately described. As well, the inactivation effects of microbial growth were also evaluated for these kinds of engineered nanomaterials. After that, the disinfection of estimating four harmful waterborne bacteria in real wastewater was appraised. The results obtained of Raman active modes and FT-IR exhibit that the crystallization was strengthened by Cu doping. The natural THz response of the samples appears a distinct attenuation in the THz transmission. In addition, the results showed that 0.5C-MZT is a powerful antimicrobial agent for damaging the targeted pathogens. The results of toxicological safety tests indicated that the nanomaterials examined are safe for environmental applications. The results achieved reveal that the examined proficient dosage (200 mg/L) of studied 0.5C-MZT nanomaterials was practiced to deactivate four predominant waterborne pathogens in wastewater. Eventually, MZT could serve as a smart nano-weapon towards numerous sorts of dangerous pathogenic microbes and results; therefore, recommend that MZT can be employed as a talented disinfecting agent within wastewater processing.

for full paper see https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13204-020-01454-3

… Standard transmission THz/TDS coordination is occupied for measurements using the TPS spectra 3000 system (Teraview Ltd. England) model by using the transmission unit of polyethylene pelts and under Nitrogen gas (N2) purging …

Utilizing multilayer structures to enhance terahertz characterization of thin films ranging from aqueous solutions to histology slides

Sun, Qiushuo, Kai Liu, Xuequan Chen, Xudong Liu, A. I. Hernandez-Serrano, and Emma Pickwell-MacPherson. "Utilizing multilayer structures to enhance terahertz characterization of thin films ranging from aqueous solutions to histology slides." Optics letters 44, no. 9 (2019): 2149-2152.

Abstract

We propose a multilayer geometry to characterize thin-film samples in reflection terahertz time domain spectroscopy. Theory indicates that this geometry has higher sensitivity compared to ordinary transmission or reflection geometries when characterizing both low- and high-absorption samples. Pure water and water–ethanol mixtures are measured to verify the characterization accuracy of the proposed geometry and its capability to measure trace liquids. Paraffin-embedded oral cancer tissue is imaged to further show how the proposed geometry enhances the sensitivity for solid low-absorptive films.

for full paper see https://www.osapublishing.org/ol/abstract.cfm?uri=ol-44-9-2149

"The TF liquid measurements were conducted using the Terapulse 4000 from Teraview Ltd. The ethanol (≥99.8%) was from SIGMA-ALDRICH CO. The dove prism was made of fused quartz with a top angle of 38°. The top medium in the liquid measurements was a 2mm-thick fused quartz substrate. 25 µm Teflon spacers were sandwiched in the middle between the quartz prism and the substrate. The incident wave was p-polarized"