Signal optimisation in cw-laser crossed-beam photothermal spectrometry: influence of the chopping frequency, sample size and flow rate

Optimisation of the optical design for cw-laser crossed-beam thermal lens spectrometry in infinite and finite samples has been investigated using different excitation beam waists and various lens combinations. The characteristics of the photothermal signal depending on the position of the sample with respect to the probe beam waist, the chopping frequency, the sample size and the flow rate have been considered. Depending on the irradiation duration, the size of the thermal element at the measurement time can be much greater than the waist of the excitation beam. As a result, the optimum sample position is closely related to the probe beam to thermal element size ratio and therefore depends on the chopping frequency and of the sample size. At low frequencies, the size of the thermal element is almost independent of the degree of focusing of the excitation beam because a smaller beam waist induces a faster thermal expansion. As a result, the amplitude of the optimum signal does not depend on the waist of the excitation beam. In contrast, at high frequency, the size of the thermal element remains closer to the size of the excitation beam and the signal is inversely proportional to the waist of the excitation beam as previously demonstrated under pulsed-laser excitation. Moreover, at moderate flow velocities, the signal is significantly enhanced because the negative effect produced by the displacement of the thermal element across the probe beam axis is more than compensated by a decrease of the effective thermal time constant due to radial mixing.