Transient thermal gratings at surfaces for thermal characterization of bulk materials and thin films

Abstract

Transient Thermal Gratings (TTGs) at surfaces of absorbing materials have been utilized for investigating heat diffusion in bulk materials and thin films. In this report, we describe the theoretical background of the technique and present experimental data. TTGs were excited in the surface plane by interference of two pulsed laser beams and monitored by a cw probe beam, either via temperature dependence of the reflectivity or by deflection from the displacement pattern. A theoretical model describing the thermal and thermoelastic surface response was developed, both for a homogeneous material and a multilayer structure. The potential of the technique will be demonstrated by experimental results on (i) thermal diffusivities of bulk materials, (ii) anisotropic lateral heat transport, and (iii) thermal diffusivities of metal and diamond films. Furthermore, we will show that TTGs allow thermal depth profiling of inhomogeneous materials whenever there is a vertical gradient in thermal conductivity.