Simultaneous measurement of absorption coefficient, thermal diffusivity, and flow velocity in a gas jet with pulsed photothermal deflection spectroscopy

Simultaneous measurement of the absolute optical absorption coefficient or species concentration, thermal diffusivity, and flow velocity in a gaseous medium has been demonstrated by using pulsed photothermal deflection spectroscopy (PTDS) and a multiparameter fitting procedure. The spatial distribution of the three parameters in a laminar flow has been simultaneously determined and the influence of velocity gradient on the measurement has been discussed. Saturation behavior of the PTDS signals was observed and found to influence significantly the fitted results. The saturation influences most significantly the absorption coefficient determination, somewhat less significantly the thermal diffusivity determination, and only negligibly the flow velocity determination. For an absolute and accurate measurement of the absorption coefficient or species concentration, the saturation-induced error has to be corrected by using a model taking into account the effects of the saturation. The influence of saturation on the thermal diffusivity determination can be significantly accounted for by using a simple model in which the pump beam radius is set as a free parameter in the multiparameter fitting procedure. Both multipulse and single-pulse measurements are performed. For multipulse measurement, the estimated measurement uncertainties are ±2% for the flow velocity, and ±5% for the thermal diffusivity and absorption coefficient, while for single-pulse measurement, the estimated uncertainties are ±2% and ±10%, respectively. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.