New photothermal technique using photothermal dielectric effect

A new photothermal technique is proposed. It is based on the temperature characteristic of the dielectric constant of light-irradiated material. A quantitative derivation is presented for the alternating capacitance variation in terms of the optical, thermal, dielectric and geometric parameters of the system. The experimental results for TiO₂-Bi₂TiO₄O₁₁ ceramics, lead zirconate titanate ceramics and ZnSe semiconductor are shown, where the observed signals agree with theoretical ones very well.