ENCONTRO DE FSICA 2011 FOZ DO IGUA PARAN - Brazil

UFPA UFPB
Geometry Optimization for Thermal Lens Spectrometry
Rubens Silva, Sanclayton G. C. Moreira, Petrus Alcntara Jr. Universidade Federal do Par - UFPA Paulo C. de Oliveira, Marcos A. C. de Arajo Universidade Federal da Paraba - UFPB

INTRODUCTION
Thermal Lens Spectroscopy (TL) is a very sensitive technique to measure the absorption coefficients of highly transparent materials, and also widely used to perform measurements of thermal diffusivities obtained from the characteristic time of formation of the lens. In this study, we conducted theoretical and experimental studies on the geometrical parameters that influence both the amplitude, and the transient time of TL signals, when the sample is excited by a modulated CW laser.

RESULTS

Our results show that signals of large amplitude, very close to the theoretical limit, combined with transient regimes of short duration, can be obtained by reducing the radius of curvature of the probe beam and the distance of sample to the photodetector. Figs.6 shows the experimental results of (a) the TL signals, (b) the normalized fractional amplitude S/ and (c) the halfamplitude time t1/2 as a function of the parameter V.

METHODOLOGY
Our studies were based on the model of Shen for the thermal lens with dual-beam mode mismatched configuration. We kept the sample of oleic acid at the minimum waist position of the excitation laser and investigate the behavior of the TL signal when the radius of curvature of the probe beam and the distance between the sample and the photodetector were varied. The TL effect was probed by a HeNe laser (633 nm) counter-propagating with the excitation laser.

Fig. 3 Fractional amplitude and half-amplitude time as a function of the parameter V.

The fractional amplitude has a maximum for V given by:

Vopt

1 2m

and when m>>1 we get the approximation:

t1/2 tc

m V

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES
Fig. 1 Geometrical configuration of the laser beams.

Using the theory of Fresnell diffraction, the intensity of the probe beam at the photodetector can be written by an analytical expression determining the thermo-optical properties of the sample. This expression is given by:

2 I (t ) I (0) 1 2 tan
1 2

Fig. 4 is a photography of the experimental setup with all the necessary components for production of dual-beam mode-mismatched TL. The position occupied by the sample is always at the minimum waist of excitation beam. Fig. 5 represents the various parameters essential to determining the characteristic time of formation of the TL, and therefore the determination of the Thermal Diffusivity of the sample.

Fig. 6 Experimental results of (a) TL transient signals, (b) the normalized fractional amplitude S/ , and (c) t1/2 as a function of V. All measurements were made with m = 290.

CONCLUSIONS We have shown that the geometrical parameters of the dual-beam mode-mismatched thermal lens

1 2m

2mV 2 tc V 1 2m V 2 2t
2

where:

P AL dn e k p dt
tc

1p e

2 1p p

1 Rp

1 Z2

2 e

4D

k c

method may be optimized in such a way that the transient signals may increase in amplitude with a reduced transient time. The shortening of transient time could be predicted theoretically with the definition of the halfamplitude time t1/2. Our results show that signals of large amplitude, very close to the theoretical limit, combined with transient regimes of short duration can be obtained by reducing the radius of curvature of the probe beam and the distance of sample to the photodetector.

tc is the characteristic TL time constant, k is the thermal conductivity and D is the thermal diffusivity.

REFERENCES
Fig. 4 Experimental setup showing the equipments used in the experiment.

1. J.B. Alvarado, A.M. Mansanares, E.C. da Silva, and

Parameter
e p

Value 514 nm 632.8 nm 36 m 613 m 2 mm 10.5 cm from 15 cm to 2.1 m 290 from 1 to 35

- wavelength of the excitation laser - wavelength of probe laser - minimum waist of the excitation beam - waist of the probe beam at the sample

0e

Fig. 2 Typical thermal lens signal

1p

The TL signal may be characterized by the fractional amplitude S and the half-amplitude time t1/2 described by the following equations:
S I(0) I( ) I(0)

L - sample thickness Z1 - distance between the minima waists Z2 - distance between the sample and detector m V

S.G.C. Moreira, Rev. Sci, Instrum. 74:697 (2003) 2. J. Shen, R.D. Lowe, and R.D. Snook, Chem. Phys. 165:385(1992) 3. Handbook de Chemistry and Physics, 56th ed, (CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, Florida, 1975-1976) 4. N. Garti and A. Aserin, J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 59:317(1982) 5. T.L. Mounts, J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 58:51 A (1981) 6. M.A.C. de Arajo, R. Silva, E. de Lima, D.P. Pereira, P.C. de Oliveira, Measurement of Gaussian laser beam radius using the knife-edge technique: improvement on data analysis, Applied Optics vol 48, no. 2, 393 (2009)

S 1
2 2

tan

2mV 1 2m V 2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

t1/2 tc

V 2 1 2m 1 2 4m2 V 2

4m 2 V 2 , where V 2 1 2m

4m 2 V 2

Fig. 5 Table of parameters used in the experiments. Z2 and V varied during the experiment.

The parameter t1/2 was defined at I(t1/2 )

I(0) I( ) 2