signature=31c4aa8d5646dc53c705b68fb9a6fc3e,Signature science in the terahertz

Paper Abstract

There has been enormous interest and considerable investment in recent years devoted to the development of the

Terahertz (aka Submillimeter) spectral region for imaging and sensing. While a number of 'one of a kind' scientific

applications (astrophysics, upper atmospheric processes, physical chemistry, molecular physics, etc.) in this spectral

region have been highly successful, there are no 'public' applications of the THz. It is the central thesis of this paper that

for most of the well publicized applications the lack of signature, clutter, and phenomenolgical knowledge - Signature

Science - impedes progress at least as much as technical shortcomings. Thus, Signature Science represents a major

scientific opportunity and a technological necessity. An important goal of Signature Science should be to provide a

scientifically based body of knowledge that will make end-to-end system analyses possible at an early stage of system

and application conceptualization and design. In this paper we will focus on three THz applications that have the

potential to make a near term impact: 1) Imaging through obscurants, 2) Spectral signatures of gas phase chemicals, and

3) Signature quantification and analysis methods for optimal use of the information content of the spectra of solids,

especially explosives.