Investigation of terahertz waves propagating through far infrared/CO2 laser stealth-compatible coating based on one-dimensional photonic crystal

Abstract We propose a new method to disclose the camouflaged targets coated with far infrared/CO 2 laser stealth-compatible coating by utilizing terahertz (THz) radar. A coating based on one-dimensional photonic crystal (1DPC) with a defect mode is specially designed and successfully prepared, which possesses a high reflectivity in 8–14 μm waveband and a low reflectivity at 10.6 μm, by alternating thin films of Ge, ZnSe and Si. The propagation characteristic of 0.3–2 THz wave at incident angle from 0° to 80° in such PC coating is investigated theoretically based on characteristic matrix method. The maximal transmittance is up to 92%, and the absorptivity keeps lower than 0.5% over the whole band. The results are verified by experiments, which demonstrate the feasibility of using THz radar to detect the targets covered with such stealth-compatible coatings.