THz reflection spectroscopy of C-4 explosive and its detection through interferometric imaging

In recent times, Terahertz (1 THz = 1012 cycles/sec and 300 μm in wavelength) spectroscopy has become a promising technique for spectroscopic identification of different materials having contemporary interest. In this study we report a direct measurement of reflection spectra of the explosive C-4, which shows significant absorption around 0.8 THz, using THz time domain spectroscopic techniques. A contrast in reflection of around 8% has also been observed between the neighboring frequencies of 0.7 THz and 0.9 THz. The spectral data have been used to create realistic synthetic images for use in simulations of interferometric detection in a stand-off THz imaging system. The results obtained are analyzed using Artificial Neural Networks for positive identification of the agents with an interferometric array of few linear detectors in near field mode.