Polarization orientation dependence of the far infrared spectra of oriented single crystals of 1,3,5-trinitro-S-triazine (RDX) using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy

The far infrared spectra of (100), (010), and (001)-oriented RDX single crystals were measured as the crystal was rotated about the axis perpendicular to the polarization plane of the incident radiation. Absorption measurements were taken at temperatures of both 20 K and 295 K for all rotations using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. A number of discrete absorptions were found ranging from 10-100 cm-1 (0.3-3 THz). The absorptions are highly dependent on the orientation of the terahertz polarization with respect to crystallographic axes. © 2009 Springer-Verlag.