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A similarity normalization method for thermal-wave depth profiling of layered and radial continuously varying inhomogeneous thermophysical properties in cylindrical solids is investigated and related to that developed for inhomogeneous flat solids both theoretically and experimentally using photothermal radiometry. The deconvolution of the curvature effect out of the overall thermal-wave field of inhomogeneous cylindrical solids allows conventional rectilinear thermal-wave inverse-problem techniques to be applied to thermal conductivity depth profile reconstructions in layered and inhomogeneous depth-varying cylindrical solids and opens new possibilities for depth profilometry of such solids using existing flat-surface inverse techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work the surface thermal-wave field (ac temperature) of a solid cylinder illuminated by a modulated light beam is calculated first in two cases: a multilayered cylinder and a cylinder the radial thermal conductivity of which varies continuously. It is demonstrated numerically that, using a few layers of different thicknesses, the surface thermal-wave field of a cylindrical sample with continuously varying radial thermal conductivity can be calculated with high accuracy. Next, an inverse procedure based on the multilayered model is used to reconstruct the radial thermal conductivity profile of hardened C1018 steel rods, the surface temperature of which was measured by photothermal radiometry. The reconstructed thermal conductivity depth profile has a similar shape to those found for flat samples of this material and shows a qualitative anticorrelation with the hardness depth profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method of retrieving thermophysical depth profiles of continuously inhomogeneous materials is presented both theoretically and experimentally using laser infrared photothermal radiometry. This method represents the three-dimensional (3D) extension of earlier one-dimensional thermal-wave inverse-problem techniques for reconstructing inhomogeneous thermal-conductivity or diffusivity depth profiles. A 3D theoretical model suitable for characterizing solids with arbitrary continuously varying thermophysical property depth profiles and finite (collimated or focused) laser beam spotsize is developed. A numerical fitting algorithm to retrieve the thermophysical profile was demonstrated with three case hardened steel samples. The reconstructed thermal conductivity depth profiles were found to be well anticorrelated with microhardness profiles obtained with the conventional indenter method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of the photothermal laser source beam size on the measurement sensitivity of layered systems using photothermal radiometry (PTR) is presented. Based on an appropriate theoretical model, widely different behaviors of the photothermal amplitude and phase in terms of combinations of thermophysical properties (i.e., thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity) between a thin coating and the substrate are observed. The beam size effect on PTR measurement sensitivity is theoretically examined and experimentally demonstrated using a carbonitrided C1018 steel sample. The experimental results of using a variable size laser beam for the carbonitrided C1018 sample validate the theoretical prediction, in which an expanded beam exhibits a much larger magnitude change in both amplitude and phase as a function of frequency than measurements with a focused beam. The fitted thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity based on the assumed industrially relevant range of effective hardness case depth gives the approximate range of the change in thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of C1018 steels after the carbonitriding process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial n-type Si wafers (resistivity of 5–10 Ω cm) were H+ ion implanted with energies between 0.75 and 2.00 MeV, and the electronic transport properties of the implanted layer (recombination lifetime, carrier diffusion coefficient, and front-surface and implanted-interface recombination velocities s1 and s2) were studied using photocarrier radiometry (PCR). A quantitative fitting procedure to the diffusing photoexcited free-carrier density wave was introduced using a relatively simple two-layer PCR model in lieu of the more realistic but substantially more complicated three-layer model. The experimental trends in the transport properties of H+-implanted Si layers extracted from the PCR amplitude and phase data as functions of implantation energy corroborate a physical model of the implanted layer in which (a) overlayer damage due to the light H+ ions decreases with increased depth of implantation at higher energies, (b) the implanted region damage close to the interface is largely decoupled from the overlayer crystallinity, and (c) the concentration of implanted H+ ions decreases at higher implantation energies at the interface, thus decreasing the degree of implantation damage at the interface proper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by increasing practical and industrial applications of photothermal techniques in the measurement of materials of various shapes with curvature, we extend the applications of photothermal diagnostics to solid spheres, in which both theoretical and experimental photothermal radiometry studies on spherical geometries and thermal diffusivity of the sample are discussed. Based on the Green function method, a full thermal-wave field distribution of a spherical solid is obtained. The characteristics of the thermal-wave field with respect to thermophysical properties of the material, the diameter of the solid, the size of the incident laser beam, and the measurement angle are discussed. Experimental results with steel spheres of different diameters exhibit good agreement between the theory and the experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We extend the applications of the photothermal diagnostics by means of laser-infrared photothermal radiometry (PTR) to samples with curved surfaces. Specifically, we present both the theoretical and experimental PTR studies on solid cylindrical samples (surfaces). Based on the Green function method, the thermal-wave field distribution of a cylindrical surface that is under the excitation of a periodically modulated uniform beam is obtained. The laser beam, which is of a cylindrical symmetry, impinges uniformly, partially or fully, on the cylindrical surface, which is practically infinitely long along the axial direction. The characteristics of the thermal-wave field with respect to the thermal diffusivity of the material, the diameter of the sample, the size of the incident beam, and the measurement of the angle are discussed. Experimental results are in good agreement with the theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on the development of a thermal-wave interferometric technique using two-cavity photopyroelectric (PPE) detection. Models used; Discussion; Conclusions.

Describes a technique called nonlinear photothermal radiometry that applies the second-harmonic thermal waves to material inspection and nondestructive evaluation. Implications of the measurement results of the second-harmonic signal; Description of the theoretical model developed; Differences between the fundamental and the second-harmonic signal.