Detection and identification of illicit drugs using terahertz imaging

Abstract

We demonstrated an advanced terahertz imaging technique for detection and identification of illicit drugs by introducing the component spatial pattern analysis. As an explanation, the characteristic fingerprint spectra and refractive index of ketamine were first measured with terahertz time-domain spectroscopy both in the air and nitrogen. The results obtained in the ambient air indicated that some absorption peaks are not obvious or probably not dependable. It is necessary and important to present a more practical technique for the detection. The spatial distributions of several illicit drugs [3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, methylenedioxyamphetamine, heroin, acetylcodeine, morphine, and ketamine], widely consumed in the world, were obtained from terahertz images using absorption spectra previously measured in the range from 0.2to2.6THz in the ambient air. The different kinds of pure illicit drugs hidden in mail envelopes were inspected and identified. It could be an effective method in the field of safety inspection.