Tuesday, 16 December 2014

Investigation of UV optical fibers under synchrotron irradiation

Dan Sporea, Laura Mihai, Adelina Sporea, Alin Lixandru, and Elke Bräuer-Krisch




Abstract


The focus of the present paper deals, for the first time, with commercial UV optical fibers, characterizing their behaviour as they are subjected to very high flux wiggler generated synchrotron radiation. Five distinct types of UV optical fibers, produced by three manufactures, were exposed to total doses between 5 Gy and 2000 Gy. The exposure to synchrotron radiation was performed in two campaigns. The tests were run off-line and considered the dependence of the radiation induced attenuation (RIA) as function of the total dose. The recovery of the radiation induced colour centres was studied at room temperature and after heating the samples up to 560 K. As a première, we also investigated through THz imaging and spectroscopy the irradiated optical fiber samples. Under these conditions, three of the optical fibers proved to be radiation resistant. The two optical fibers sensitive to synchrotron radiation exhibited a linear variation of the optical absorption at the wavelengths of λ = 229 nm, λ = 248 nm, and λ = 265 nm, for total doses between 60 Gy and 2000 Gy. These two samples showed also an increase of the optical absorption in the UV spectral range when heated to 560 K. The optical fibers sensitive to synchrotron radiation can potentially be used for on-line radiation dosimetry.


Wednesday, 10 December 2014

Positions at TeraView - Software Contractors

TeraView Limited is the world's leader in the design and manufacture of terahertz (THz) products to the pharmaceutical, security, medical and materials characterisation markets. Our products continue to yield many ground-breaking applications such as tablet coating thickness and uniformity, cracks, defect analysis, foreign materials and analysis of solid-state structure to be exploited by our customers. Based in Cambridge UK, we have a global client base and a highly-skilled workforce.

We are seeking a Software Development Specialist to join our team; an individual who is able to meet the existing operational needs of the company, as well as planning for the future needs of the company as we grow.

For a full job description and more information on the role, please visit: http://www.teraview.com/about/careers-jobs.html


Tuesday, 9 December 2014

Investigation of thermal degradation of vegetable oils by spectroscopic methods and its mathematical analysis

M. Tobolova, V. Kresalek, H. Vaskova and M. Buckova

Abstract


In this paper, relatively new spectroscopic methods were used for investigation of edible oils and their thermal degradation. There were included the samples of refined rapeseed and sunflower oil and the same oils heated for specified time interval at the temperature 200 °C. The optical characteristics of oils have been investigated with Terahertz Time Domain Spectroscopy (THz-TDS). The refractive indices were calculated in the specified terahertz frequency range, processed and statistically evaluated. The Wilcoxon matched pairs test was carried out for comparison of unheated and heated oil samples. The results measured by THz-TDS were supplemented by Raman spectra analysis. Both methods seem to be capable analyzing tool for oil investigation. 

Tuesday, 2 December 2014

Feasibility of Using Terahertz Spectroscopy To Detect Seven Different Pesticides in Wheat Flour

Maeng, Inhee; Baek, Seung Hyun; Kim, Hwa Yeon; Ok, Gyeong-Sik; Choi, Sung-Wook; Chun, Hyang Sook

Abstract


This study investigated the feasibility of detecting pesticides using terahertz (THz) spectroscopy in high-density polyethylene and/or wheat flour mixtures. The absorption spectra of seven pesticides (dicofol, chlorpyrifos, chlorpyrifos-methyl, daminozide, imidacloprid, diethyldithiocarbamate, and dimethyldithiocarbamate) were measured in the frequency range 0.1 to 3 THz at room temperature. Five of the seven pesticides exhibited specific absorption peaks in the low-energy THz range. The two remaining pesticides had no specific absorption peaks in this frequency range, but they exhibited different frequency-dependent refractive indices. The absorption coefficients of imidacloprid increased with its increasing weight ratio in high-density polyethylene, and the fitted power absorptions and refractive indices using a Maxwell-Garnett effective medium model were comparable to the measured data. Imidacloprid was also identified from its characteristic absorption peaks in wheat flour mixtures, and a linear relationship between the absorption coefficient and the weight ratio was observed. Our results show the potential of detection of selected pesticides in foods, such as wheat flour, using THz spectroscopy.

This study was performed using TeraView's Spectra 3000 system. (TeraView, Cambridge, UK)

Full Article: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iafp/jfp/2014/00000077/00000012/art00010

Thursday, 20 November 2014

TeraHertz: New opportunities for industry

TeraView are happy to confirm that Dr. Philip Taday will be speaking at the upcoming event: TeraHertz: New opportunities for industry - Special Focus Session: THz Materials Measurements, on the 3rd-5th of February 2015.

Event Overview:

TeraHertz (THz), the frequencies between electronics and optics, was until recently the last unexploited part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The harnessing of THz-based technologies has the potential of impacting globally a vast number of industries, like both electronics in the 70’s and optics in the 80’s did. THz applications span over a wide array of fields, including:

• Quality Control and Non-destructive testing
• Surface analysis
• Security
• Chemical and Bio-Medical analysis
• Telecommunications

Filling the TeraHertz “gap” has led to unprecedented creativity in the development and commercialization of TeraHertz sources, transmission components and detectors. This year’s edition will focus on THz materials measurements and applications.

For more information on the event and a full list of speakers visit:
http://www.formation-continue-unil-epfl.ch/thz
http://www.formation-continue-unil-epfl.ch/wp-content/uploads/12215091-teraherz-new-opportunities.pdf