Terahertz Chemical Microscope - from Bench to Bedside and from Laboratory to Industry

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Photonics is an enabling technology that creates opportunities for innovation in downstream markets. Every so often, an unconventional but revolutionary technology provides a unique opportunity for quantum leaps in innovation. In this project, we propose to develop several new applications of a such novel technique for terahertz (THz) detection and imaging, named the Terahertz Chemical Microscope (TCM). The TCM uses THz radiation to monitor chemical reactions. When a near-infrared (IR) femtosecond laser irradiates a specially fabricated sensing plate of the TCM, electromagnetic pulses are generated, which are typically in the THz regime. In a TCM, a sensing film is fabricated on top of the sensing plate, which has high selectivity to the chemical to be detected. When chemicals attach to this sensing film, the intensity of the THz radiation changes. Therefore, changes in the chemical and electric potentials at the surface of the sensing film can be measured as changes in the amplitude of the THz pulse. The TCM has several advantages over conventional THz spectroscopy and imaging techniques, such as the ability to probe substances (such as aqueous solutions) that are highly absorptive or scattering in the THz range.