Special CPM-related Seminar hosted by the Faculty of Engineering

Applications of terahertz pulsed technology

Phil Taday

Principal Scientist and Head of the Applications
TeraView Limited, Cambridge

The terahertz spectral region extends from the end of the far-IR spectral region (i.e., 133 cm^-1 or 4 THz) to the beginning of the millimetre wave spectral region (i.e. 2 cm^-1 or 60 GHz). Absorptions observed in this region are commonly associated with intermolecular hydrogen-bonding vibrations and crystalline structure lattice vibrations.

TeraView's terahertz pulsed spectroscopy (TPS) measurements obtained in both transmission and reflectance modes advance the current state-of-the-art for elucidating solid state crystalline structures such as polymorphs, hydrates, and solvates by providing fundamental spectra-structure correlations for hydrogen-bonding and other organic moieties.

Terahertz pulsed imaging (TPI) provides a quick and non destructive 3D mapping technique for determining the composition and integrity of intact materials. TPI yields unique information about materials.

More recently, TeraView has been on the next generation of time-domain reflectrometers (TDR) for use in semiconductor failure analysis as a non-destructive method for the location of defects in semiconductor device packages.

In this seminar, an overview of terahertz technology and practical implementation considerations for TPS and TPI applications.