Laser picosecond acoustics with oblique probe light incidence

Abstract

Laser picosecond acoustics involves the excitation and detection of picosecond acoustic strain pulses in thin films with ultrashort light pulses. The use of oblique probe light incidence permits a greater degree of freedom in choosing the optical probing conditions and thereby should allow the extraction of more information about the profile of the propagating acoustic strain pulses. Here, we present a theory for the modulation of light reflected at oblique incidence from a solid containing an acoustic strain distribution. The theory can account for the real and imaginary parts of the reflectance variation, and involves both the effect of the transient surface motion and of the photoelastically modulated dielectric constants in the solid. We show, in particular, how the theory can be applied to extract the contribution to the reflectance change arising from the surface motion in an opaque isotropic solid, thereby allowing direct access to the shape of the acoustic strain pulse propagating therein.