Terahertz Circular Dichroism: Absorption Terahertz Spectrum for Liquid Water

Chirality is believed to be a general and unique trait of life. Chiral macromolecules absorb broadly and strongly at terahertz frequencies. We are developing a novel terahertz circular dichroism spectrometer. We use the intense and broadly tunable terahertz radiation from the UCSB free electron laser to measure differential absorption of circularly polarized light of biological polymers in aqueous solution. We aim to examine the feasibility of terahertz circular dichroism spectroscopy as a universal technique for detecting and finger-printing bio-polymers. Our secondary science goal is to measure the absorption coefficients of liquid water at the terahertz range. This will help us study the properties of liquid water.