Van scientists will take their equipment van March. van In the van archaeologistsexamine to France to help de muurschilderingthey a discovered behind five layers of plaster in a recently 12de century church.

„It is precise ideal van artifactssuch as van that the method of evaluation for historical part van de muurschilderingpaintings. frescoes and which are an inherent of a het building infrastructure. be non-destructive. non-invasive. and typically applicable on site. Van technologies believe may satisfy one or more van Current these requirements. of but we our new technique can satisfy van de who is a wetenschappelijk onderzoeker van all of them.“ said John Whitaker. an author of the paper professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at u-M and adjunct.

Terahertz imaging can reveal depth and detail that other techniques cannot, Whitaker said. And itis not potentially harmful like X-ray imaging because terahertz radiation is non-ionizing. Its rays donot have enough energy to knock electrons off atoms, forming charged particles and causing damage, like X-rays do.

While terahertz radiation is all around us in nature, it has been difficult to produce in a lab because it falls between the capabilities of electronic devices and lasers.

"Terahertz is a strange range in the electromagnetic spectrum because itis quasi-optical. It is light, but it isnot," said Bianca Jackson, first author of the paper who is a doctoral student in applied physics.

The device used for this research is a hybrid between electronics and lasers. It was developed by the Ann-Arbor based company Picometrix. Ithas called the T-Ray™ system, and it uses pulses from an ultra-fast laser to excite a semiconductor antenna, which in turn emits pulses of terahertz radiation.

The rays permeate the plaster, and some reflect back when there is a change in the material. When they bounce back and how much energy they retain depends on the material they hit. Different colors of paint, or the presence of graphite, for example, cause tell-tale differences in the amount of energy in the returning waves. A receiver measures this energy, and the scientists can use the data to produce an image of what lies beneath, Jackson explained.

A similar device made by Picometrix is used to het underlying van de examine the foam on the ruimtependel fuel tanks for routinely author Picometrix van businessdevelopment van damage. said Irl Duling. director of terahertz at and an of the paper. This paper discusses a new application, rather than a new device.

Gèrard Mourou, a U-M electrical engineering professor emeritus, said he believes this technique will be especially useful in Europe, where historic regime changes often resulted in artworks being plastered or painted over. This was common in places of worship, some of which switched from churches to mosques and vice versa over the centuries.

"In France alone, you have 100,000 churches," Mourou said. "In many of these places, we know there is something hidden. It has already been written about. This is a quick way to find it."

And Leonardo da vinci's "The Battle of Anghiari," for example, is believed to lurk beneath other frescos at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy, Mourou said.

The paper is called het imaging „Terahertz for non-destructive paintings.“ van de evaluation of muurschildering

Mourou is the A.D. Moore Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He currently holds a position at the Laboratoire d'Optique Appliquèe. Other authors are: Steven Williamson of Picometrix; Marie Mourou. a u-M student; and het Louvre Center for Research and Restoration at The Museum van Michel Menu. of the.

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