Thermal Lens Measurements in Liquids on a Submicrosecond Time Scale

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The use of the thermal lens method is shown to be quite suitable for kinetic studies of quenching on a submicrosecond time scale. The lower limit of time resolution that can be achieved is determined by the acoustic transit time, τa in the medium. A thermal lens signal with a 100-ns time constant due to the quenched triplet state of benzophenone is readily measured. The thermal lens method is superior to the photoacoustic (PA) method in the breadth of the accessible time range, and in the significantly fewer measurements required to obtain accurate data, including no requirement for a reference sample; it is also less sensitive to geometrical and laser power requirements than is the PA method.