Measurements of the optical and thermal properties in layered biomaterials by monitoring of a thermal perturbation with phase-resolved optical coherence tomography

Abstract

We present a methodology that allows precise determination of the optical and thermal properties of layered materials using thermal perturbation and phase-resolved optical coherence tomography (pOCT). Following heating with a laser pulse of a buried absorbing layer, optical path length changes between the sample’s surface and the absorbing layer are monitored using a line-scan pOCT. Using an axisymmetric thermo-mechanical model for transversely uniform multi-layered media, we fit the absorption coefficient, the heat conductivity, and the thermal expansion coefficient of the polymer. We demonstrate that the temperature distribution can be determined with a precision under 0.1°C, after a single laser pulse.