Terahertz probing of sunflower leaf multilayer organization

Opt Express. 2020 Nov 9;28(23):35018-35037. doi: 10.1364/OE.400852.

Abstract

We analyze the multilayer structure of sunflower leaves from Terahertz data measured in the time-domain at a ps scale. Thin film reverse engineering techniques are applied to the Fourier amplitude of the reflected and transmitted signals in the frequency range f < 1.5 Terahertz (THz). Validation is first performed with success on etalon samples. The optimal structure of the leaf is found to be a 8-layer stack, in good agreement with microscopy investigations. Results may open the door to a complementary classification of leaves.

MeSH terms

  • Fourier Analysis
  • Helianthus / anatomy & histology*
  • Plant Leaves / anatomy & histology*
  • Terahertz Imaging / instrumentation*
  • Terahertz Spectroscopy / methods*