太赫兹技术在农产品检测中的应用研究进展

我国是农业大国,保障粮食安全是国家发展的战略需要。农产品检测技术的应用和发展对监控质量,预防由农产品品质问题引发的安全事故至关重要。太赫兹(Terahertz, THz)波位于电磁频谱空隙,频率高于微波而低于红外线,具备光子能量低、穿透性好、能表征分子结构等优点。基于太赫兹波的光谱检测技术受到研究人员广泛关注,在生物医学、安全检查等方面得到应用,被证明是一种可靠的检测手段。在农产品应用领域,太赫兹波特有的非接触、无标记检测能力为农产品成分分析、质量控制提供了技术手段,其良好的穿透性和无损害性,可以用来在不破坏农产品表面及外包装的前提下,检测内部成分变化。与其他光谱(超声、 X射线、红外等)检测手段相比,太赫兹波频率范围宽、表征能力强,可实现对目标物质的快速无损检测。近几年,随着太赫兹发射源、探测器等设备以及光谱和成像技术的发展,其在农产品领域的应用有了新的进展。通过收集整理近期的文献资料,综述了太赫兹技术在农产品检测方面的应用拓展和研究成果,总结了目前存在的应用局限。在此基础上,对未来太赫兹光谱和图像检测的研究方向进行了展望,提出提高检测灵敏度和检测速度是农产品领域太赫兹技术产业化应用...     

Terahertz wave polarization rotation in bianisotropic metamaterials

Utilizing a polarization sensitive terahertz detection method where the detector is rotated by either 0° or 90° to measure the electric field E_{p, s} (t) of each polarization component, we have characterized the properties of split ring resonators. The strong polarization dependence of the bianisotropic-circular-current-driven and linear-polarization-induced resonances is in excellent agreement with the simulation when the p-polarized terahertz transmission is measured. However, these electromagnetic responses vanish when the s-polarized terahertz transmission is measured. There is only a transmission minimum at 1.64 THz and the terahertz polarization rotation angle of about 90° is observed. The polarized terahertz transmission amplitudes and spectra detected at orthogonal orientations show that these behaviours are probably attributed to the birefringent effect of the sample.     

The Detection of Agricultural Products and Food Using Terahertz Spectroscopy: A Review

Abstract: Demand for high levels of quality and safety in agricultural products and food requires appropriate analytical techniques for analysis both during and after production. Desirable techniques should be quick, easy, and safe to use; require minimal or no sample preparation; avoid sample destruction; and be accurate. In this study, the recent technical applications of terahertz spectroscopy to identify and classify, qualitatively and quantitatively analyze, evaluate, and safely control agricultural products and food are reviewed. The challenges and future outlook of terahertz spectroscopy are discussed.     

Applications of Terahertz Spectroscopy in the Field of Construction and Building Materials

Abstract: In last two decades, rapid development in the field of terahertz (THz) technology has opened new possibilities for creating innovative imaging and sensing systems. Although the applications of THz technology in different sectors constantly increase, the construction industry lags behind them. The aim of this article is to review the current applications of THz spectroscopy in research and industry related to construction and building materials, along with the key drawbacks of technology and recommendations for future use. The review concludes that THz spectroscopy and imaging have promising potential and provide many opportunities for applications in construction and building materials characterization.     

基于微流控技术的磁流体载基液的太赫兹透射特性研究

太赫兹(THz)是指频率在0.1～10 THz的电磁波,其波长在30～3 000 μm范围内。由于自然界许多小分子的振动、转动等的频率均在太赫兹波段,并且太赫兹的低电子能特性使其在实验过程中不会对待测样品造成破坏,所以太赫兹技术被广泛地应用于无损检测、生物医学等领域。但是太赫兹在铁磁领域的相关报道还是较少的,因此本研究利用太赫兹时域光谱系统研究了一种新型磁性材料：磁流体的组成部分-载基液的太赫兹透射特性。磁流体是一种兼具液体流动性和固体磁性的新型功能材料,其打破了传统磁性材料的固体形态。磁流体由Fe₃O₄纳米级颗粒以及载基液构成。在前人的研究成果中发现磁性液体不仅具有良好的磁光效应,而且对于一定频率的太赫兹波具有高透射率;另外,在极低频电磁场作用下其可用于医学上的肿瘤治疗,可作为靶向治疗的载药系统。由于磁流体的组成部分-载基液成本较高,因此在实验中运用了微流控技术。微流控技术对检测样品的消耗少、检测速度快,并且可以根据实验需求自行设计沟道,因此是一种便捷的、灵活性好的检测方式。采用对太赫兹波具有高透过率的石英材料制成了夹心式的太赫兹微流控芯片。首先将两块3 cm×3 cm×2 mm的石英玻璃作为基片和盖片,再把强粘黏性双面胶剪刻成镂空样式,形成2 cm×2 cm的方形区域,然后把盖片和基片通过雕刻好的强粘黏性双面胶键合,其沟道厚度为50 μm,可以用于对少量液体的探测,并且可以使载基液呈薄膜状。之后将太赫兹技术和微流控技术相结合,利用太赫兹时域光谱(THz-TDS)系统研究了载基液的太赫兹透射特性,通过对太赫兹时域光谱以及频域光谱的研究发现,装有载基液的微流控芯片的信号强度高于空的微流控芯片,这一发现为载基液的应用和深入研究提供了技术支持。     

Recent Developments in Modulation Spectroscopy for Trace Gas Detection Using Tunable Diode Lasers

Abstract

The need for higher sensitive detection technology for trace gas samples, either in the laboratory setup or in the atmospheric remote sensing has been a goal for several decades. The development of the tunable diode laser has propelled the progress of trace detection technology, and modulation technology enables the improvement of the detection sensitivity. As a result, the detection of 10^?7 or 10^?8 absorbance is possible for some applications, and modulation technology has been applied to the ultraviolet as well as mid-infra red wavelength range. In this review, recent progress of tunable diode lasers and diode laser-based modulation technologies are presented. Wavelength modulation, frequency modulation, and two-tone frequency modulation techniques are mainly described along with the actual application of the techniques. In addition, the state-of-the-art of diode laser development which can be adopted for the trace detection is presented.     

基于微流控技术的水的太赫兹吸收特性研究

很多生物大分子的特征振动模式和转动模式都位于太赫兹波段范围内,且太赫兹波的低电子能特性使其在实验过程中不会对待测样品造成破坏,所以可以采用太赫兹技术来鉴别生物样品.在许多研究中,生物样品都是溶液状态,溶液中水和其他分子之间的相互作用涉及很多生物现象,所以研究水的太赫兹特性就显得至关重要.众所周知,水分子是十分常见的极性...     

黑砷磷室温太赫兹探测器

由于太赫兹波与众多物质之间存在着丰富的相互作用,太赫兹技术在众多领域均有应用需求。因此,基于独特物理机制和优异材料特性的高灵敏度、便携式太赫兹探测器的研制刻不容缓。黑砷磷是一种新型二维材料,其带隙和输运特性随化学组分可调,在光电探测领域被广泛关注。目前基于黑砷磷的研究集中在红外探测方面,而对于太赫兹探测的应用未见报道。本文介绍了一种基于黑砷磷的天线耦合太赫兹探测器。实验结果表明,在探测过程中存在两种不同的探测机制,并且两者之间存在竞争关系。通过改变黑砷磷的化学组分可以定制不同的探测机制,使其达到最优响应性能。在平衡材料带隙和载流子迁移率的情况下,探测器实现了室温下对0.37 THz电磁波的灵敏探测,其电压响应度和噪声等效功率分别为28.23 V/W和0.53 nW/Hz1/2。     

The application of terahertz spectroscopy to liquid petrochemicals detection: A review

Petrochemicals, one of the most important energy sources, contribute to the remarkable development of human civilization. Therefore, the development of a kind of fast, safe, reliable and nondestructive detection technology is essential. Terahertz (THz) spectroscopy, containing abundant physical, chemical, and structural information of materials, shows significant applications in the fields of physics, chemistry, materials science, medicine, pharmacy and biology. As a promising detection technology, THz technology provides a new reliable analytic method in liquid petrochemicals detection due to the fact that low-frequency vibrational and rotational motions of hydrocarbon molecules lie in the terahertz region. In this article, we review the applications of the liquid petrochemicals detection based on the terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) system, mainly containing the analysis of molecular properties, qualitative identification, quantitative analysis and the terahertz metamaterials sensing. In addition, we propose the further exploration of terahertz technology in the field of petrochemical industry.     

太赫兹超材料生物传感器的应用研究进展

太赫兹(THz)波,是指频率范围在0.1～10 THz的电磁波,在电磁波谱中处于红外与微波之间.太赫兹波的光子能量相对于可见光更低,1 THz对应的能量大约只有4.14 meV,意味着这将大大减少对生物体内组织器官的辐射而引起的伤害,不会对生物分子产生电离.因此,该波段在基础科学、人体安检、危险品检测、高速通信和医学成...     

基于Rydberg原子天线的太赫兹测量

Rydberg原子在微波和太赫兹频段具有极大的电偶极矩,利用量子干涉效应可实现对该频段电磁波场强的高灵敏探测,理论上灵敏度可达到远高于现有探测技术的水平.基于Rydberg原子量子效应的电磁场探测及精密测量技术在太赫兹的场强和功率计量、太赫兹通信和太赫兹成像等方面有着巨大的应用前景.本文回顾了基于Rydberg原子量子干涉效应实现电磁波电场自校准和可溯源测量的基本理论和实验技术,详细介绍了基于Rydberg原子的高灵敏太赫兹场强测量、太赫兹近场高速成像和太赫兹数字通信的基本原理和技术方案.最后简单介绍了本研究团队正在开展的基于Rydberg原子的太赫兹探测工作.     

电场诱导水的太赫兹透射特性研究

许多生物分子自身的转动、振动或分子团的整体振动模式都位于太赫兹波段内,因此可以利用太赫兹光谱技术对生物分子进行检测。同时又由于太赫兹波的光子能量仅为毫电子伏量级,不会对分子的内部结构造成破坏,所以太赫兹时域光谱技术在生物检测方面具有良好的应用前景。众所周知,绝大多数的生物分子只有在液体条件下才能发挥其生物活性,所以研究液体环境下生物分子之间的相互作用就非常必要。然而水分子的转动模式、振动模式以及和氢键有关的能量均处于太赫兹波段,从而对其产生强烈的吸收;另外,水分子为极性分子,而极性分子对太赫兹波有强烈的共振吸收,这就使利用太赫兹技术对生物分子活性进行动态表征产生了困难。因此在研究溶液中的生物分子与太赫兹波的相互作用时,最大限度地减小水分子对太赫兹波的吸收就成为近年来的研究热点。目前,减少水对太赫兹波吸收的主要方法有：在溶液样品中加入抑制氢键缔合的离子来减小水对太赫兹的吸收;通过改变溶液的温度来调节水对太赫兹的吸收;利用微流控芯片技术,通过减小被测样品与太赫兹波的作用距离来减小水对太赫兹波的吸收。另外,激光的激励、电场或磁场的处理,也能改变水对太赫兹波的吸收,将盛有去离子水的微流控芯片放于电场中,研究经电场处理不同时间的去离子水对太赫兹吸收强度的影响。结果发现,太赫兹波的透射强度随着去离子水在电场当中静置时间的增加而增强,当在电场中静置60 min时,太赫兹的频谱强度达到最大,与空气的频谱强度接近。由此可以推断外加电场使水分子的偶极矩发生了变化,从而对整体水分子的振动和转动产生了影响,并且改变了水中的氢键结构,导致了太赫兹透射光谱强度的增强。     

Review About the Optical-Controlled Terahertz Waves Modulator

Abstract

A review of optical-controlled modulators in terahertz regime is presented. Regular semiconductor materials and organic materials at the terahertz frequencies enable fascinating modulation behaviors, including frequency shift and phase and amplitude modulation, observed in devices of subwavelength dimensions. Modulation enhancement was realized by changing the carrier concentration of the local or whole surface in arrays of various structure cells involved with split-ring resonators, holes, and apertures. We also illustrate some new methods to realize modulation for electromagnetic waves. Optical-controlled modulators and the novel manipulation methods will find amazing applications in terahertz communication, imaging, and sensing.     

Mode theory of three-layer cylindrical waveguides and its application to aurum(Au)/polystyrene(PS)-coated terahertz hollow waveguides

In this paper, we present a generic mode theory for the three-layer cylindrical waveguides consisting of three arbitrary material mediums. Based on derived eigenvalue equations of the TE, TM, and hybrid modes, the mode conditions of metal/dielectric-coated terahertz hollow waveguides are extracted. In addition, we quantitatively describe both the effective refractive indexes and the loss characteristics of the aurum/polystyrene-coated terahertz hollow waveguides operating at the TE₀₁, TM₀₁, and HE₁₁ modes. It is indicated that the loss coefficient of the TE₀₁ mode can be much lower than that of the TM₀₁, and HE₁₁ modes, and, especially, can tend to that of the terahertz wave in air. So the TE₀₁ mode is very significant for the hollow waveguides in term of low loss propagating of the terahertz wave. We expect these results to enable a variety of new long-distance THz applications in sensing, detecting and communicating.     

Photoconductive antenna as local oscillator in terahertz frequency measurement: heterodyne efficiency and bias effect

In a photoconductive antenna (PCA), femtosecond-laser-excited carriers will form a broadband terahertz photon-carrier (PC) comb, and the terahertz PC comb can be used as a multi-frequency local oscillator to carry out heterodyne detection of continuous terahertz sources with high frequency accuracy. In this paper, the heterodyne efficiency and the bias effects of a PCA terahertz PC comb are investigated. The results show that the pair beat signals (with the beat frequencies lower than the repetition frequency of femtosecond laser) of a continuous terahertz source and the two adjacent comb teeth do not decrease with the increase of beat frequency. Applying a bias voltage to the PCA can effectively enhance the terahertz emission efficiency. However, such a bias voltage has no positive effects on the heterodyne detection responsivity because the heterodyne detection is intrinsically based on the terahertz rectification effect that is proportional to the photo-excited electrons. In addition, by using a reference terahertz source with high frequency stability, it is possible to measure the fluctuation and the drift of the repetition frequency of femtosecond lasers with higher accuracy. The results are helpful for improving the performance of terahertz frequency measurement system based on PCA PC combs.     

太赫兹技术用于关节软骨检测的研究进展

骨关节炎是主要由软骨组织损伤与退化引起的常见关节疾病,是影响人类健康的重大疾病之一,对于关节软骨组织早期病变的检测可以大大提高疾病的治愈率,然而相关的临床诊断技术尚未发现。近年来,太赫兹技术在医学领域日益受到关注。与传统方法相比,太赫兹辐射能量低,不会产生电离辐射,可高灵敏、无损伤地对生物组织进行成像检测,因此在关节软骨诊断方面具有较大的应用潜力。本文简要介绍了关节软骨的生理与病理情况以及目前关节软骨检测的主要方法,重点总结了太赫兹技术应用于关节软骨检测方面的相关研究工作,分别包括对动物与人类关节软骨的检测,探讨了太赫兹技术在关节软骨检测中所面临的挑战与未来研究展望。     

AgGaSe_2晶体差频产生可调谐太赫兹波的理论研究

基于单轴晶体中三波互作用的共线相位匹配技术,采用CO2激光器泵浦非线性晶体AgGaSe2,数值计算出在oee类和oeo类相位匹配条件下,差频产生太赫兹波的相位匹配角、走离角、允许角和有效非线性系数。计算结果表明:两类相位匹配太赫兹波可调谐的范围都非常宽,而且走离角都在1°以下,允许角足够大。在绝大部分太赫兹波区域,oee类匹配有效非线性系数远大于oeo类匹配,实验中适合采用oee类相位匹配方式。     

电解质溶液的太赫兹透射特性研究

许多生物大分子的振动和转动能级都在太赫兹波段,且太赫兹波具有光子能量低,峰值功率高的特点,因此用太赫兹技术进行检测,能够从很大程度上保证生物分子不被破坏.然而,大部分的生物分子只有在水溶液中才能保持其生物活性,且水是极性分子,对太赫兹波有强烈的吸收,因此使用常规的太赫兹技术检测水溶液中生物样品的特性存在一定困难.设计了...     

差频可调谐太赫兹技术的新进展

太赫兹技术在最近30年来得到快速发展, 并在医学、生物、农业、材料、安检、通信、天文等领域得到广泛应用. 从太赫兹源的频谱特性可以分为窄带(单频)太赫兹源和宽带太赫兹源. 从频谱技术方面来说, 相干的宽带和窄带太赫兹谱是一种互补性关系, 具有各自的技术特点和应用范围. 宽带太赫兹谱可以用于快速获取较宽频谱范围的分子振转谱, 实现混合特征谱的快速检测或成像. 窄带太赫兹源具有很好的光谱灵敏度和分辨率, 适用于太赫兹抽运-探测、分子振转能级谱精细结构分辨 以及太赫兹远程探测和成像. 因此研制具有可调谐的高峰值功率的窄带太赫兹源是适用于探测和识别分子振转能级指纹谱的应用需求, 而差频技术是获得高功率和宽调谐窄带太赫兹源最重要的技术之一. 为了突出该技术的最新进展, 本综述引证论文仅仅限于近5 年来基于差频技术产生太赫兹波的研究进展, 分为光学激光差频源和量子级联激光器差频源两大部分. 对于光学激光差频源, 分别对目前文献报道的各种双波长差频源和太赫兹产生用的非线性晶体进行分类介绍, 并给出所采用的技术和实验结果; 对于量子级联激光器差频源, 分别介绍了量子级联激光器中的差频产生技术和波长调谐技术的最新进展. 量子级联激光器差频太赫兹源是目前实现量子级联激光器在太赫兹波段室温运转的惟一技术, 是实现小型化、窄带宽调谐和室温运转太赫兹源的新发展领域, 值得关注.     

Disease-related proteins determination based on surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Abstract

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a promising platform for simple, rapid, and economical protein quantitation and analysis and can achieve much lower detection limits for the ultrasensitive detection of proteins and a much wider linear concentration range for quantitative analysis than other methods can. In addition, SERS can provide a large amount of fingerprint information for the individual components of a mixture through SERS effects, which are sensitive and selective for different types of proteins and protein mixtures. In general, the occurrence and development of diseases are accompanied by changes in the content or structure of biomarkers (disease-related proteins). Here, we provide an overview of the SERS technique and its applications to disease-related protein determination. Different diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), cardiac muscle tissue injury, and multicancer, are discussed and exhibit potential utility in biomarker detection and diagnosis. SERS opens a new path to the early diagnosis of critical diseases, which will effectively reduce human suffering and mortality.