Open AccessJones matrix formalism for the theory of picosecond shear acoustic pulse detection
Author(s) -
Denis Mounier,
Pascal Picart,
Philippe Babilotte,
P. Ruello,
JeanMarc Breteau,
Thomas Pézeril,
G. Vaudel,
Mansour Kouyaté,
Vitalyi Gusev
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.18.006767
Subject(s) - optics , polarimetry , polarization (electrochemistry) , physics , picosecond , isotropy , ellipse , materials science , scattering , laser , chemistry , astronomy
A theoretical analysis of the transient optical reflectivity of a sample by a normalized Jones matrix is presented. The off-diagonal components of the normalized matrix are identified with the complex rotation of the polarization ellipse. Transient optical polarimetry is a relevant technique to detect shear acoustic strain pulses propagating normally to the surface of an optically isotropic sample. Moreover, polarimetry has a selective sensitivity to shear waves, as this technique cannot detect longitudinal waves that propagate normally to the sample surface.