Skip to main content

Particle characterization using THz spectroscopy

Abstract

THz extinction spectroscopy extends UV–Vis and NIR-spectroscopy to characterize particles from fine powders and dust to sand, grains and granulated materials. We extract particle sizes from the spectral position of the first peak of the interference structure and size distributions from the visibility of the fine ripple structure in the measured extinction spectra. As such, we can demonstrate a route for a quick determination of these parameters from single measurements.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

References

  1. Bündermann, E., Hübers, H.-W., Kimmitt, M.: Terahertz Techniques. Springer Series in Optical Sciences, Berlin (2012)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  2. van de Hulst, H.C.: Light Scattering by Small Particles. Dover Publications Inc., New York (1957)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Eshel, G., Levy, G.J., Mingelgrin, U., Singer, M.J.: Critical evaluation of the use of laser diffraction for particle-size distribution analysis. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 68, 736 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Kelly, R.N., DiSante, K.J., Stranzl, E., Kazanjian, J.A., Bowen, P., Matsuyama, T., Gabas, N.: Graphical comparison of image analysis and laser diffraction particle size analysis data obtained from the measurements of nonspherical particle systems. AAPS PharmSciTech 7, 69 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Blott, S.J., Pye, K.: Particle size distribution analysis of sand-sized particles by laser diffraction: an experimental investigation of instrument sensitivity and the effects of particle shape. Sedimentology 53, 671 (2006)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Born, P., Rothbart, N., Sperl, M., Hübers, H.-W.: Granular structure determined by terahertz scattering. Europhys. Lett. 106, 48006 (2014)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. King, M.D., Byrne, D.M., Herman, B.M., Reagan, J.A.: Aerosol size distributions obtained by inversions of spectral optical depth measurements. J. Atmos. Sci. 35, 2153 (1978)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Clancy, R.T.: Mars aerosol studies with the MGS TES emission phase function observations: optical depths, particle sizes, and ice cloud types versus latitude and solar longitude. J. Geophys. Res. 108, 5098 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Korablev, O.: Vertical structure of martian dust measured by solar infrared occultations from the phobos spacecraft. Icarus 102, 76 (1993)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Mathis, J.S., Rumpl, W., Nordsieck, K.H.: The size distribution of interstellar grains. Astrophys. J. 217, 425 (1977)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Higgins, J.P., Arrivo, S.M., Thurau, G., Green, R.L., Bowen, W., Lange, A., Templeton, A.C., Thomas, D.L., Reed, R.A.: Spectroscopic approach for on-line monitoring of particle size during the processing of pharmaceutical nanoparticles. Anal. Chem. 75, 1777 (2003)

  12. Pasikatan, M., Steele, J.: Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy for online particle size analysis of powders and ground materials. J. Near Infrared Spectrosc. 164, 153 (2001)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Cunningham, P.D., Valdes, N.N., Vallejo, F.A., Hayden, L.M., Polishak, B., Zhou, X.-H., Luo, J., Jen, A.K.-Y., Williams, J.C., Twieg, R.J.: Broadband terahertz characterization of the refractive index and absorption of some important polymeric and organic electro-optic materials. J. Appl. Phys. 109, 043505 (2011)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. Bohren, C.F., Huffman, D.R.: Absorption and Scattering of Light by Small Particles. Wiley-VCH, New Jersey (1983)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Mätzler, C.: MATLAB Functions for Mie Scattering and Absorption, IAP Research Report. Institut für angewandte Physik, Universität Bern 08 (2002)

  16. Holldack, K., Ponwitz, D.: A dedicated THz beamline at BESSY. In: AIP Conference Proceedings, vol. 879, p. 599 (2007)

  17. Abo-Bakr, M., Feikes, J., Holldack, K., Kuske, P., Peatman, W., Schade, U., Wüstefeld, G., Hübers, H.-W.: Brilliant, coherent far-infrared (THz) synchrotron radiation. Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 094801 (2003)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. Rasband, W.S.: ImageJ, U.S. National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, http://imagej.nih.gov/ij/ (1997–2014)

  19. Piesiewicz, R., Jansen, C., Wietzke, S., Mittleman, D., Koch, M., Kürner, T.: Properties of building and plastic materials in the THz range. Int. J. Infrared Millimeter Waves 28, 363 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. Birch, J.R.: The far-infrared optical constants of polypropylene, PTFE and polystyrene. Infrared Phys. 33, 33 (1992)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. Folks, W.R., Pandey, S.K., Boreman, G.: Refractive index at THz frequencies of various plastics. Optical Terahertz Sci. Technol. 2, 10 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Scheller, M., Jansen, C., Koch, M.: Analyzing sub-100-\(/mu\)m samples with transmission terahertz time domain spectroscopy. Opt. Commun. 282, 1304 (2009)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. Zhao, J.-Q., Zhang, F., Li, J.: Analytical inversion of the absorption spectrum to determine non-spherical particle size distribution. J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transf. 149, 128 (2014)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. Fraden, S., Maret, G.: Multiple light scattering from concentrated, interacting suspensions. Phys. Rev. Lett. 65, 512 (1990)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. Mishchenko, M., Mackowski, D., Travis, L.: Scattering of light by bispheres with touching and separated components. Appl. Opt. 34, 4589 (1995)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  26. Quirantes, A., Arroyo, F., Quirantes-Ros, J.: Multiple light scattering by spherical particle systems and its dependence on concentration: a T-matrix study. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 240, 78 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank R. Bittl (FU Berlin) and A. Schnegg (HZB) for permitting measurements at the FTIR-instrument, D. Ponwitz for technical support at the beamline, as well as Boris Eberhard, Peidong Yu, and Zach Evenson for the help with the measurements during the beamtime. Philip Born thanks Andreas Meyer for his continued support of the project.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Philip Born.

Ethics declarations

Disclosures

The manuscript, or its contents in some other form, has not been published previously by any of the authors. The work was partially supported by the DFG research unit FOR1394.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Born, P., Holldack, K. & Sperl, M. Particle characterization using THz spectroscopy. Granular Matter 17, 531–536 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10035-015-0578-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10035-015-0578-9

Keywords