Surface roughness effects on the terahertz reflectance of pure explosive materials

We studied the effect of surface roughness on terahertz reflectance spectra of explosives at both quasinormal and oblique incidence by Fourier-transform spectroscopy. The optical constants of 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazacyclooctane and 1,3,5 trinitro-1,3,5 triazacyclohexane were determined from the reflectance spectra of pure optically flat pellets and clear spectral signatures were found in the 0.5-8 THz range. In the case of a realistic surface roughness of several tens of microns, the observation of the spectral signatures at quasinormal incidence is hindered by the specular reflectance roll-off at terahertz frequencies. On increasing the angle of incidence, the roll-off occurred at higher frequency and the surface roughness was optically measured. Oblique incidence geometries can benefit the development of terahertz standoff detection devices. c 2008 American Institute of Physics.