Computed tomography using broadband Bessel THz beams and phase contrast

We present new results demonstrating the capability of performing computed tomography (CT) using broadband Bessel terahertz (THz) beams. Nondiffractive beams such as these exhibit propagation-invariant lines of focus with an extended depth-of-field compared to conventional Gaussian beams. Using this property, we demonstrate a considerable improvement in the 3D reconstruction image of a synthetic sample through the backprojection algorithm. Only when THz Bessel beams are used, a full reconstruction of the object structure is made. Moreover, we use phase-contrast mechanism which improves the spatial resolution and reconstructed images. Our results highlight the potential in using nondiffractive Bessel beams to significantly improve 3D-image reconstruction of THz CT. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America