Terahertz Multiparameter Sensor using Fiber-Interrogated Frequency Selective Surface

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel THz fiber-interrogated frequency selective surface sensor capable of simultaneously monitoring film thickness and humidity with high sensitivity and low detection limits, useful for paper quality control.

Contribution

The work presents a new integrated THz sensor that can measure multiple parameters simultaneously using spectral shifts and amplitude variations in fiber spectra.

Findings

Sensitivity of 1.5 GHz / 10 um for thickness changes

Sensitivity of 0.6 / (% water volume) for humidity changes

Detection limits of 10 um for thickness and 0.02% for humidity

Abstract

We propose using THz frequency selective surfaces interrogated with THz subwavelength optical fibers as sensors for monitoring of the optical properties of thick films that are brought in contact with such surfaces. Changes in the test film thickness and absorption losses can be measured simultaneously by interpreting variations in the spectral resonant features in the fiber transmission and reflection spectra. Particularly, changes in the film thickness induce strong shifts in the fiber transmission peaks, while changes in the film absorption induce notable amplitude variations in the fiber reflection peaks. When applied to the problem of monitoring of thickness and humidity content in the paper sheets, the proposed system shows sensitivity of 1.5 GHz / 10 um to changes in the paper thickness, and sensitivity of 0.6 / (% of water by volume) to changes in the paper humidity. We estimate the detection limit of our device to be 10 um for the paper thickness variation and 0.02% (of water by volume) for the paper humidity variation. Proposed sensor is implemented in the spirit of integrated optics, where a point device based on the frequency selective surface is interrogated with a THz fiber that is used for remote delivery of THz radiation.