One of the modern problems arising in the detection and identification of substances is a development of criteria for the assessment of a presence of explosive (or other dangerous substance) fingerprints in THz signals transmitted through or reflected from a sample. Obviously, criteria depend on the method used for the substance detection and identification. Taking into account our previous experience, we use for a solution of this problem the SDA method (method of the spectral dynamics analysis). Essential restrictions of usually used THz TDS method for the detection and identification under real conditions (at long distance about 3.5 m and at a high relative humidity more than 50%) are demonstrated using the physical experiment with paper napkins and thick paper bag. We show also that the THz TDS method detects spectral features of dangerous substances even in the THz signals measured in laboratory conditions (at distance 30-40 cm from the receiver and at a low relative humidity less than 2%) with semiconductors of different types used as samples. However, the integral correlation criteria, based on SDA method, allows us to detect the absence of dangerous substances in semiconductors. In order to demonstrate the possibilities of the integral criteria for finding additional substances in the mixture with semiconductors, we modeled several mixtures of n-doped Silicon with neutral substance Soap in different ratio. The discussed algorithms show high probability of the substance identification and a reliability of realization in practice, especially for non-destructive testing and security applications.

Date Published: 14 May 2015
PDF: 14 pages
Proc. SPIE 9454, Detection and Sensing of Mines, Explosive Objects, and Obscured Targets XX, 945409 (14 May 2015); doi: 10.1117/12.2178001

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9454:
Detection and Sensing of Mines, Explosive Objects, and Obscured Targets XX
Steven S. Bishop; Jason C. Isaacs, Editor(s)