Top-hat cw laser induced thermal mirror: a complete model for material characterization

A complete theoretical model is presented for the thermal mirror technique under top-hat laser excitation. Considering the attenuation of the top-hat excitation laser intensity along the thickness of a sample due to its optical absorption coefficient, we calculate the laser-induced temperature and surface deformation profiles. A simplified theoretical model for a high absorption sample is also developed. The center intensity of a probe beam reflected from the thermal mirror at a detector plane is derived. Numerical simulation shows that the thermal mirror under the top-hat laser excitation is as sensitive as that under Gaussian laser excitation. With top-hat laser excitation, the experimental results of thermo-physical properties of opaque samples are found to be well consistent with literature values, validating the theory.