Theory of optical beam deflection for single microparticles

Abstract

A theory was developed for the optical beam deflection (OBD) signal generated from a single microparticle. From the thermal-diffusion equations, the temperature fields inside and outside the microparticle, which has a two-layer structure, was deduced. A three-dimensional theoretical treatment was established for the deflection signal of the probe beam passing through the temperature field formed by photothermal conversion of the excitation beam energy absorbed by the sample. The proprieties of the theoretical model and its results were confirmed by comparing the theoretical values of the frequency characteristics, probe beam offset dependencies, and particle size dependencies of the OBD signal with the experimental ones for 25–300-μm-radius microparticles. From the theory, the unique particle size dependencies and frequency characteristics of the OBD method for the single microparticle, i.e., higher sensitivity for smaller particles and at high frequencies, were identified as due to the microparticle surface curvature. The optimal experimental conditions in the OBD measurement of the single microparticle were also obtained using theoretical analysis.