An investigation of petrochemical geological samples by terahertz pulse spectroscopy

The analysis of petrochemical samples by Terahertz (THz) spectroscopy is investigated. THz spectroscopy is a nondestructive, contact-free analysis method for the study of many different materials. In this work, we show that the THz spectra can be used to get different chemical and structural information from a potential hydrocarbon source. Density of the geological samples has the potential for valuable information about the sample. For similar materials, refractive index is linearly proportional to density [1]. But, refractive index spectra lack the specificity that absorbance spectra have. Non-destructive absorbance maps are generated and are shown to be reproducible.