A different way of performing picosecond ultrasonic measurements in thin transparent films based on laser-wavelength effects

Abstract

We present a way of using picosecond ultrasonics to simultaneously get the thickness and elastic properties of thin dielectric layers. This is based on the use of a blue probe which is shown to improve the detection of acousto-optic oscillations in the dielectric from which the sound velocity can be measured from the refractive index. At the same wavelength a strong response of the silicon is used to detect the arrival of the acoustic pulse. We apply this scheme to various materials deposited on silicon substrates.