DETECTION AND ANALYSIS OF CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS BY PASSIVE EMISSION OF TERAHERTZ WAVE AGAINST A COLD BACKGROUND TARGET

摘要

A system (38) for detecting and analyzing chemical and biological materials in a sample (12). The system (38) includes a spectrometer (42) for passively receiving emissions from the sample (12) in the terahertz frequency band to detect the materials therein. A telescope (46) or other device can be used to confine the field-of-view of the spectrometer (42). A cold surface (16) is positioned filling the field-of-view of the spectrometer (42) at an opposite side of the sample (12) from the spectrometer (42). The cold surface (16) provides a low temperature background relative to the sample (12) so as to reduce the background emission and enhance the detection of the emission from the sample (12).