Measurement precision is often required in the process of material parameter extraction. This fact is applicable to terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS), which is able to determine the optical/dielectric constants of material in the T-ray regime. Essentially, an ultrafast-pulsed THz-TDS system is composed of several mechanical, optical, and electronic parts, each of which is limited in precision. In operation, the uncertainties of these parts, along with the uncertainties introduced during the parameter extraction process, contribute to the overall uncertainty appearing at the output, i.e. the uncertainty in the extracted optical constants. This paper analyzes the sources of uncertainty and models error propagation through the process.

Date Published: 12 June 2007
PDF: 18 pages
Proc. SPIE 6593, Photonic Materials, Devices, and Applications II, 659326 (12 June 2007); doi: 10.1117/12.721876

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 6593:
Photonic Materials, Devices, and Applications II
Ali Serpengüzel; Gonçal Badenes; Giancarlo C. Righini, Editor(s)