Photoacoustics with carbon-based infrared absorbers

Many carbon-based materials (soot, carbon nanotubes,...) are almost perfectly black, meaning that they absorb nearly 100 % of light regardless of the light wavelength. But how do these materials convert the absorbed electromagnetic radiation into an acoustic signal?

To find answers to this question, see our new paper "Photoacoustic characteristics of carbon-based infrared absorbers", just published in Photoacoustics, Volume 23, 100265 (2021). The reprint can be found in arXiv.

Our study of photoacoustic properties of carbon-based light-absorbing materials is motivated by the development of next-generation optical power detectors based on the photoacoustic effect.