Haewook Han

Guided-wave single-mode propagation of subpicosecond terahertz (THz) pulses in a plastic photonic crystal fiber has been experimentally demonstrated. The plastic photonic crystal fiber is fabricated from high-density polyethylene tubes and filaments. The fabricated fiber exhibits the low loss and relatively low dispersive propagation of THz pulses within the experimental bandwidth of 0.1–3 THz.

Combined with terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy, THz near-field microscopy based on an atomic force microscope is a technique that, while challenging to implement, is invaluable for probing low-energy light-matter interactions of solid-state and biomolecular nanostructures, which are usually embedded in background media. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a broadband THz pulse near-field microscope that provides subsurface nanoimaging of a metallic grating embedded in a dielectric film.

Despite the wide application of liquid crystals (LCs) in the visible frequency range, their properties in the terahertz range have not yet been extensively investigated. In this paper we have investigated the terahertz properties of LCs E7, BL037, RDP-94990 and RDP-97304 using terahertz time-domain-spectroscopy. We find that RDP-94990 has the largest birefringence and smallest absorption in the terahertz range compared to E7 and BL037. We highlight the importance of investigating all parameters,

Guided-wave propagation of sub-ps terahertz (THz) pulses in a highly birefringent plastic photonic crystal fiber was studied by using a THz time domain spectroscopy technique. The plastic photonic crystal fiber was fabricated by using high density polyethylene tubes and solid filaments. The fabricated THz plastic photonic crystal fibers exhibit an extremely large birefringence of ~ 2.1 x 10(-2), which is almost one order of magnitude larger than that of previously reported photonic crystal fiber

Background: Cellulose is a ubiquitous, renewable and environmentally friendly biopolymer, which has high promise to fulfil the rising demand for sustainable and biocompatible materials. Particularly, the recent progress in the synthesis of highly crystalline cellulose-based nanoscale biomaterials, namely cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), draws significant attention from many research communities, ranging from bioresource engineering, to materials science and engineering, to biological and biomedica

We present quantitative coherent measurements of scattering pulses and spectra in terahertz apertureless near-field microscopes. Broadband near-field image contrasts for both amplitude and phase spectra are measured directly from time-domain scattering signals with an unprecedentedly high single-scan signal-to-noise ratio (∼48 dB), with approach curves for both short (<200 nm) and long (up to 82 μm) ranges. By using the line dipole image method, we obtain quantitative broadband THz imagin

Lymph node metastasis is an important prognostic factor in cervical cancer patients. We report THz imaging for detecting micro-metastatic foci in the lymph nodes of early-stage uterine cervical cancer patients. Five paraffin-embedded metastatic lymph nodes from two cervical cancer patients were imaged using a THz time-domain spectroscopy system in the reflection mode. The size and shape of the tumor regions were compared with those from histopathologic examinations. The metastatic portions of ly

Abstract Terahertz near-field microscopy (THz-NFM) could locally probe low-energy molecular vibration dynamics below diffraction limits, showing promise to decipher intermolecular interactions of biomolecules and quantum matters with unique THz vibrational fingerprints. However, its realization has been impeded by low spatial and spectral resolutions and lack of theoretical models to quantitatively analyze near-field imaging. Here, we show that THz scattering-type scanning near-field optical mic

To improve the output power of a photomixer used as a THz source, we propose a four-leaf-clover-shaped antenna structure composed of a highly resonant radiation element and a stable DC feed element. The resonance characteristics of the proposed structure were first investigated on a half-infinite substrate as a simplified radiation environment to reduce the computation time. Based on the antenna characteristics on that half-infinite substrate, the antenna structure was designed to have a maximum

Lymph node metastasis is an important prognostic factor in cervical cancer patients. We report THz imaging for detecting micro-metastatic foci in the lymph nodes of early-stage uterine cervical cancer patients. Five paraffin-embedded metastatic lymph nodes from two cervical cancer patients were imaged using a THz time-domain spectroscopy system in the reflection mode. The size and shape of the tumor regions were compared with those from histopathologic examinations. The metastatic portions of ly

A compact microstrip lowpass filter with prominent cutoff sharpness and very wide stopband is presented. The microstrip lowpass filter is composed of a transmission line with shunt open stubs on the topside of the microstrip structure and coupled slots on the ground plane. The shunt open stub microstrip filter with slots on the ground plane has a wide stopband at high frequency, and the coupled slot on the ground plane has sharp cutoff response at low frequency. The combined characteristics of t

The use of filling agents for rubber reinforcement is beneficial in various industrial applications, and several experimental methods have been used to study the effect of fillers on rubber. However, due to the lack of a suitable imaging technique, filler dispersion and distribution in rubber cannot be easily displayed. Thus, we utilize the THz near-field microscope (THz-NFM) to directly visualize the distribution of carbon black (CB) aggregates in nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR). The THz time-do

Nanostructured ferroelectrics are important objects for studies on ferroelectric size effects as well as for applications to memory devices with ultra-high memory density. In the present article, we introduce several approaches for the synthesis of confined ferroelectrics with sizes in and below the hundreds of nanometer range, including top-down processes like e-beam lithography, self-assembly methods like chemical solution deposition, and growth by pulsed laser deposition using stencil masks.