Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy systems were developed and used for the anaylsis and characterization of various materials. By using ultra-fast Ti:Sapphire and Er-doped fiber lasers, terahertz time-domain spectrometers of different configurations were constructed and tested. To increase the accuracy and sensitivity of the measurements, the systems were optimized for spectroscopic analysis. MBE grown nominally undoped epitaxial GaAs samples were used for the spectroscopic measurements. These samples were first charactrized by electrical measurements in order to check the accuracy of the terahertz time-domain experiments. We have shown that the terahertz time-domin spectroscopic techniques provides a quick way of the determining the real ( ) and complex () components of the refractive index of material. In addition, we have investigated the photoexcitation dynamics of these GaAs samples. We have demonstrated that direct and photoexcited terahertz time-domain measurements give an estimate of the carrier densities and both the hole and electron mobility values with good precision. rnin An algorithm is developed to prevent the unwanted Fabry-Perot reflections which is commonly encountered in Terahertz Spectroscopy systems. We have performed terahertz time-domain transmission measurements on ZnTe &lt / 110&gt / crystals of various thicknesses to test the applicability of this algorithm. We have shown that the algorithm developed provides a quick way of eliminating the &ldquo / etalon&rdquo / reflections from the data. In addition, it is also shown that these &ldquo / etalon&rdquo / effects can be used for the frequency calibration of terahertz time-domain spectrometers.

This thesis deals with the methods of Terahertz (THz) spectroscopy to observe the kinetics of haemostatic materials used for supporting the native mechanism of haemostasis. The theoretical part follows the physical principles of THz time-domain spectroscopy (THz TDS), mentions the advantages and limitations of this method and its application possibilities for the characterization of biomedical materials. Further, there are specified properties of actual haemostats, described principles of their function and usage in practice, including their interaction with the living tissue. There were performed experiments monitoring the kinetics of physiologic reaction of the tissue adhesive based on the cyanoacrylates and absorbable haemostats. The mechanisms of monitored reactions were explained based on the physical-chemical principles that are used also for the kinetic models’ derivation. Modelling of the measured data results in the estimation of the parameters characterizing the observed samples. The most interesting parameter is the time constant of the reaction because of the possibility to compare reaction rates of different types of haemostats. The detailed analysis of this parameter is performed using the means of statistical methods. Tissue adhesive samples were measured by other spectroscopic and microscopic methods to compare the findings with the experimental results of the THz TDS. Data were processed using algorithms designed especially for this experiment and analysed using mathematical methods.