On the use of the photoacoustic effect for investigating phase-transitions in solids

Abstract
By exploring the dependence of the photoacoustic signal on the thermal properties of the sample, we demonstrate experimentally the usefulness of the photoacoustic effect for investigating phase transitions in solids. Special application is made for the case of Al‐doped VO2. We also describe the photoacoustic cell utilized and the complete characterization of the cell is done by using a piece of germanium in single‐crystal form which has well known thermal properties.