Lens-free heterodyne detection for transient grating experiments

An enhanced technique of heterodyne detection for transient grating experiments has been developed. This technique features a very simple optical alignment because no lenses are used to focus beams on the samples. It was applied to a vapor-deposited gold thin film (thickness: 30 nm), and the detected signal was confirmed to consist of a heterodyne component based on the dependence of the signal intensity on the pump intensity. Furthermore, this technique was shown to provide easy control of the phase difference between the probe and reference beams. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.