Terahertz time-domain and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy of traditional Korean pigments

Abstract

Representative traditional Korean pigments (oyster shell white [hobun], massicot [miltaseung], indigo [jjok], azurite [seokcheong], malachite [seokrok], and red lead [yeondan]) have been studied with terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIRS) over the spectral region of 0.1–7.5 THz. Both the refractive index n and the extinction coefficient k were simultaneously and independently determined in the terahertz region without a Kramers-Kronig analysis while the absoprtion coefficient spectra were acquired in the infrared region. All pigments studied in the present work exhibited a set of characteristic absorption peaks unique to the pigment species in addition to a background that increased with increasing frequency. Our study demonstrates that terahertz and infrared techniques can be useful identification and diagnostic tools for the traditional Korean pigments used in heritage buildings and artworks.