SBIR Phase I: Laser Machining of Terahertz Waveguide & Microscopy Components

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目将开发用于时域太赫兹（THz）光谱和成像系统的工程线波导。各种材料的波导设计将通过有限元建模和有限时间差分模拟来完成。精密的波导形状将通过先进的激光微加工技术生产，作为化学蚀刻方法的替代品，但难以控制或复制。该计划的更广泛影响将是在工业无损评估以及创新和重要的研究领域，如近场显微镜，超材料表征和太阳能电池和有机发光二极管（LED）中使用的导电聚合物表面电荷的测定，带来新的商业机会。实现实用的太赫兹波导将简化太赫兹技术，降低其成本并扩大其用途。该项目涉及研究生和本科生，为他们在快速发展的高科技领域的创新工作做好准备。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop engineered wire waveguides for time-domain terahertz (THz) spectroscopy and imaging systems. Design of waveguides for various materials will be accomplished by finite element modeling and finite time difference simulation. The precision waveguide shapes will be produced by advance laser micromachining techniques, as an alternative to chemical etching methods while are difficult to control or reproduce. The broader impact of this program will be to enable new commercial opportunities in industrial non-destructive evaluation as well as innovative and important research areas such as near-field microscopy, characterization of metamaterials and determination of surface charge on conductive polymers used in solar cells and organic light emitting diodes (LEDs). The implementation of practical THz waveguides will simplify THz technology and reduce its cost and expand its use. This project involves graduate and undergraduate students, preparing them for innovative work in a rapidly developing high tech field.