Abstract
The contrast formation mechanism in nanoscale Infrared (IR) Spectroscopy is analyzed. The temperature distribution and elastic displacement across the illuminated T-shape boundary between two materials with different IR-radiation absorption coefficients and thermo-physical and elastic properties located on a rigid substrate are calculated self-consistently for different frequencies f ∼ (1 kHz–1 MHz) of IR-radiation modulation (fully coupled problem). Analytical expressions for the temperature and displacement profiles across the “thermo-elastic step” are derived in the decoupling approximation for f = 0 (“static limit”), and conditions for approximation validity at low frequencies of IR-modulation are established. The step height was found to be thickness-independent for thick layers and proportional to the square of the thickness for very thin films. The theoretical results will be of potential interest for applications in the scanning thermo-ionic and thermal infrared microscopies for relatively long sample thermalization times and possibly for photothermal induced resonance microscopy using optomechanical probes.
