Abstract

We present a numerical study of the behavior of the signal in a photothermal experiment combining the mirage effect and a Jamin interferometer. Our analysis is limited to a square-pulse excitation by a weakly absorbed Gaussian pump laser beam with a large radius. We investigate the influence of three parameters: the time of illumination of the sample, the time of extinction of the pump beam, and the height of the probe-beam arm of the Jamin interferometer above the sample. We show that the path difference, which induces the variation of intensity at the output of the Jamin interferometer, is caused by both probe-beam deflection and temperature variation of the refractive index of air above the sample. The first effect is dominant for short times, and interferometry is a sensitive tool to monitor it.

© 1997 Optical Society of America

Photothermal measurements with a Jamin interferometer: erratum

Alain Cournoyer, Pierre Baulaigue, Lazarides Eric, Henri Blancher, Lionel Bertrand, and Roland Occelli
Appl. Opt. 36(30) 8050-8050 (1997)

Continuous angle measurement with a Jamin interferometer

Diana Tentori and Martin Celaya
Appl. Opt. 25(2) 215-220 (1986)

Jamin Fabry–Perot interferometer

Dominique Chauvat, Christophe Bonnet, Alain Durand, Marc Vallet, and Albert Le Floch
Opt. Lett. 28(2) 126-128 (2003)

Theory of photothermal spectroscopy in an optically dense fluid

Qifang He, Reeta Vyas, and R. Gupta
Appl. Opt. 36(9) 1841-1859 (1997)

Applications of a compact photothermal-deflection-based setup for trace-gas detection in real-time in situ environmental monitoring and chemical analysis

Bob L. Zimering and A. Claude Boccara
Appl. Opt. 36(15) 3188-3194 (1997)