Abstract-Complex dielectric properties of anhydrous polycrystalline glucose in the terahertz region

P. Sun ; W. Liu ; Y. Zou ; Qiong Z. Jia ; Jia Y. Li

[-] Author Affiliations
http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/proceeding.aspx?articleid=2194778

P. Sun, Y. Zou, Qiong Z. Jia, Jia Y. Li

Beijing Normal Univ. (China)

W. Liu

Capital Normal Univ. (China)

Proc. SPIE 9328, Imaging, Manipulation, and Analysis of Biomolecules, Cells, and Tissues XIII, 93281P (March 2, 2015); doi:10.1117/12.2078430

We utilized terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) to investigate the complex dielectric properties of solid polycrystalline material of anhydrous glucose (D-(+)-glucose with purity >99.9%). THz transmission spectra of samples were measured from 0.2 to 2.2 THz. The samples were prepared into tablets with thicknesses of 0.362, 0.447, 0.504, 0.522 and 0.626 mm, respectively. The imaginary part of the complex dielectric function of polycrystalline glucose showed that there were multiple characteristic absorption peaks at 1.232, 1.445, 1.522, 1.608, 1.811 and 1.987 THz, respectively. Moreover, for a given characteristic absorption peak, the real part of the complex dielectric function showed anomalous dispersion within the full width half maximum (FWHM) of the absorption peak. Both finite difference time-domain (FDTD) numerical simulations and experimental results showed that the complex dielectric function of anhydrous polycrystalline glucose fits well with the Lorentz dielectric mode. The plasma oscillation frequency was below the frequency of the light waves suggesting that the light waves passed through the polycrystalline glucose tablets. Calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) showed that the characteristic absorption peaks of polycrystalline glucose originated mainly from collective intermolecular vibrations such as hydrogen bonds and crystal phonon modes. The THz radiation can excite the vibrational or rotational energy levels of the biological macromolecules. This leads to changes in their spatial configuration or interactions. This study showed that THz-TDS has potential applications in biological and pharmaceutical research and food industry. © (2015) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.