Seminar Abstract

Applications and Generation of Terahertz Radiation

Matthew J. Bohn
Assistant Professor
Air Force Institute of Technology

Abstract

The generation of terahertz radiation in an ambient air plasma using an amplified 50 fs Ti:sapphire laser's fundamental (800 nm) and second harmonic (400 nm) will be the first presented topic. Recent progress in generating and characterizing the air plasma will be presented along with plans to generate terahertz radiation in a 2-color femtosecond enhancement cavity through a collaboration with the University of Arizona. The enhancement cavity shows promise for developing a high average power terahertz source at high repetition rates useful for terahertz imaging applications.

For many Air Force and non-destructive evaluation applications, a smaller, portable terahertz source is required. In an effort to reach this objective, a diode pumped Cr:LiSAF laser has been developed and experiments are in progress to demonstrate a battery powered, pulsed terahertz source capable of terahertz time domain spectroscopy. Finally, results will be presented demonstrating the utility of time domain terahertz spectroscopy for non-destructive imaging of voids, delaminations and burns in aerospace composites.