Printing special surface components for THz 2D and 3D imaging

The paper reports an off-axis large focal depth THz imaging system which consists of three 3D printed special surface components (two aspherical mirrors and an axicon). Firstly, the optical design software is used to design and optimize the aspherical parabolic mirror. Secondly, the optimized mirror is prepared by a 3D printing and metal cladding method. Thirdly, a THz axicon is designed for generation of quasi-Bessel Beam and a new geometric theoretical model of oblique incident light for axicon is established. Finally, the imaging system based on the special surface components is constructed. Its maximum diffraction-free distance is about 60 mm, which is 6 times higher than the traditional system. To verify the effectiveness, THz two-dimensional imaging experiments and three-dimensional computed tomography experiment are carried out. The results are consistent with the design and calculations.