Analytical method for studying terahertz vibrations in a stearic acid single crystal

The anisotropy of terahertz absorption was investigated for a B-form single crystal of stearic acid. A polarized terahertz spectrometer was used to obtain absorption spectra over the range of 1-5 THz. Seven vibrational modes were observed; four exhibited significant angular dependence. Additionally, we demonstrated a simple approach for estimating the angle of the dipole moment for each vibrational mode.