Nondestructive quality inspection with terahertz waves has become an emerging technology, especially in the automotive and aviation industries. Depending on the specific application, different terahertz systems-either fully electronic or based on optical laser pulses-cover the terahertz frequency region from 0.1 THz up to nearly 10 THz and provide high-speed volume inspections on the one hand and high-resolution thickness determination on the other hand. In this paper, we present different industrial applications, which we have addressed with our terahertz systems within the last couple of years. First, we show three-dimensional imaging of glass fiber-reinforced composites and foam structures, and demonstrate thickness determination of multilayer plastic tube walls. Then, we present the characterization of known and unknown multilayer systems down to some microns and the possibility of measuring the thickness of wet paints. The challenges of system reliability in industrial environments, e.g., under the impact of vibrations, and effective solutions are discussed. This paper gives an overview of state-of-the-art terahertz technology for industrial quality inspection. The presented principles are not limited to the automotive and aviation industries but can also be adapted to many other industrial fields.

We present thickness measurements with millimeter and terahertz waves using frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) sensors. In contrast to terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (TDS), our FMCW systems provide a higher penetration depth and measurement rates of several kilohertz at frequency modulation bandwidths of up to 175 GHz. In order to resolve thicknesses below the Rayleigh resolution limit given by the modulation bandwidth, we employed a model-based signal processing technique. Within this contribution, we analyzed the influence of multiple reflections adapting a modified transfer matrix method. Based on a brute force optimization, we processed the models and compared them with the measured signal in parallel on a graphics processing unit, which allows fast calculations in less than 1 s. TDS measurements were used for the validation of our results on industrial samples. Finally, we present results obtained with reduced frequency modulation bandwidths, opening the window to future miniaturization based on monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) radar units.

We present in this paper spectral and spatial characteristics of terahertz emission from standard dipole antenna structures used as emitters depending on the substrate material. All antenna structures were lithographically fabricated on low-temperature (LT) grown, few-micrometers-thick gallium arsenide (GaAs) layers. To investigate the effect of the substrate material on the radiation pattern of terahertz beams, either semi-insulating gallium arsenide or high-resistivity silicon substrate wafers have been used. As detector a standard 40 µm long dipole antenna on a semi-insulating GaAs substrate with a low-temperature grown gallium arsenide layer on it has been employed; this configuration allows for broadband detection and is still efficient enough for the characterization purpose. Strong dependence of the radiation pattern on the substrate used for the terahertz source is demonstrated. The measured patterns and differences between the two cases of substrates are well explained by means of classical diffraction.

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When using the frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) approach for layer thickness determination of dielectrics, such as multilayer pipe walls, the resolution is usually limited by the bandwidth. For thinner layers, we compare the measurement signal with potential model signal outputs. Since our approach results in high computation efforts by using brute force optimization, spectral estimation may present an alternative for high resolution distance and hence thickness determination. In this contribution, we compare results of a parametric algorithm (modified covariance method) and a subspace method (multiple signal classification, MUSIC) with the results of our approach.

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