title: Detection of photothermal deflection signals with conjugate masks.
abstract: A new detection technique for photothermal deflection spectroscopy and photoacoustic deflection spectroscopy is presented. The technique uses a pair of matched multiple slits placed in the path of the probe beam and oriented to block the probe light from the detector in the absence of a deflection signal. Significant improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio and in the frequency bandwidth compared with those available with current techniques is demonstrated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA. rgupta@uark.edu
authors.forename: Anup
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ycas
authors.forename: Zeyad
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Alahmed
authors.forename: Rajendra
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gupta