Abstract

The observation of the picosecond thermal expansion of an absorbing surface after a short heating pulse is reported for the first time to my knowledge. The measurement was performed on Si by adapting the method of photothermal deflection to a pump–probe technique using 1-psec laser pulses. This was achieved by separating out a novel deflection effect due to the gradient in the near-surface optical constants. The results are compared to a thermo-elastic model, and good agreement is found.

© 1988 Optical Society of America

Continuous wave photothermal deflection spectroscopy in a flowing medium

Reeta Vyas, B. Monson, Y-X. Nie, and R. Gupta
Appl. Opt. 27(18) 3914-3920 (1988)

Velocimetry in laminar and turbulent flows using the photothermal deflection effect with a transient grating

Cameron J Dasch and Jeffrey A. Sell
Opt. Lett. 11(10) 603-605 (1986)

Photothermal deflection spectroscopy and detection

W. B. Jackson, N. M. Amer, A. C. Boccara, and D. Fournier
Appl. Opt. 20(8) 1333-1344 (1981)

Real-time measurement of the spatial profile of a pulsed laser by photothermal spectroscopy

Karen Williams, Paul Glezen, and R. Gupta
Opt. Lett. 13(9) 740-742 (1988)

Sagnac interferometer for photothermal deflection spectroscopy

Naoyuki Shiokawa, Yuki Mizuno, Harumasa Tsuchiya, and Eiji Tokunaga
Opt. Lett. 37(13) 2655-2657 (2012)