Metageometries for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Detection at THz Range in Food Systems

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, when present in food systems, have been shown to have a detrimental effect on human health, producing carcinogenic elements. So, the implementation of processes for their detection and identification is of vital importance. Nowadays, there are different methodologies for this purpose, but they consist of expensive and time-consuming processes. Due to their enhanced sensitivity and more accurate detection capability, metageometries operating in the terahertz band arise as a new methodology to identify and detect different chemical or biological substances. In this letter, we propose a labyrinth metageometry that is able to detect different polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons collected in European regulations as the most critical compounds with high experimental sensitivity. Our design is also capable of distinguishing between different compounds at the same concentration. This letter leads the way to the design of new metastructures able to improve the current detection limits and, thus, obtain a new methodology that is easier and less time-consuming than the actual methods.