Photo-acoustic and photo-refractive detection of small absorptions in liquids

The sensitivities of pulsed photo-acoustic and photo-refractive (e.g., thermal lensing) techniques for the measurement of small absorptions in liquids have been evaluated both theoretically and experimentally. Electrostriction limits the sensitivity of both techniques, this limitation is less severe for the photo-refractive technique. The minimum absorption constants observed experimentally, for a 200-μm laser spot size in liquid N₂, are 4 × 10^-5 cm^-1 for the photo-acoustic measurement and 6 × 10^-7 cm^-1 for the photo-refractive measurement. The calculated electrostrictive limits are 2 × 10^-5 cm^-1 and 7 × 10^-11 cm^-1, respectively.