Design of surface Brillouin scattering experiments by sensitivity analysis

Surface Brillouin scattering measures the velocities of surface acoustic waves, from which the elastic properties of supported thin films can be derived. The potential for measuring the elastic properties of thin films is rather unique but, since measurements and data analysis can be time-consuming, their efficient design is useful. Sensitivity analysis, by a global sensitivity approach, is systematically exploited to assess a priori the possibility and stability of the derivation of elastic constants from measured acoustic velocities. The analysis, for an isotropic film and for a wide range of film properties, identifies a priori the elastic constants that can be obtained and the measurement precision required for their reliable derivation. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.