Digital simulation of photoacoustic impulse responses

Abstract

Impulse-response photoacoustic spectroscopy provides information on the depth distribution of chromophores in solid samples. To gain an understanding of the way in which sample properties affect the impulse response, a digital model has been generated. This model is based on discretization of time and space coupled with a finite-difference approximation of the governing heat-diffusion equations. The simulations are compared with experimental results.