Development of time-domain differential Raman for transient thermal probing of materials

A novel transient thermal characterization technology is developed based on the principles of transient optical heating and Raman probing: time-domain differential Raman. It employs a square-wave modulated laser of varying duty cycle to realize controlled heating and transient thermal probing. Very well defined extension of the heating time in each measurement changes the temperature evolution profile and the probed temperature field at mu s resolution. Using this new technique, the transient thermal response of a tipless Si cantilever is investigated along the length direction. A physical model is developed to reconstruct the Raman spectrum considering the temperature evolution, while taking into account the temperature dependence of the Raman emission. By fitting the variation of the normalized Raman peak intensity, wavenumber, and peak area against the heating time, the thermal diffusivity is determined as 9.17 x 10(-5), 8.14 x 10(-5), and 9.51 x 10(-5) m(2)/s. These results agree well with the reference value of 8.66 x 10(-5) m(2)/s considering the 10% fitting uncertainty. The time-domain differential Raman provides a novel way to introduce transient thermal excitation of materials, probe the thermal response, and measure the thermal diffusivity, all with high accuracy. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America