Determination of the Optical and the Thermal Properties of an Absorbing Medium by Using Infrared Thermometry

Spatiotemporal changes in the surface temperature of an absorbing medium irradiated by using 532-nm laser pulses were measured using an infrared camera. Relevant numerical simulations of the heat transfer equation were performed. The simulations showed that the maximum temperature increase was linearly proportional to the absorption coefficient with no dependence on the thermal conductivity and that the decay time constant depended on both the absorption coefficient and the thermal conductivity. The absorption coefficient and the thermal conductivity of the medium were determined by fitting the simulated results for the maximum temperature increase and decay time constant to the measured results.