Understanding photoacoustic signal formation in the presence of transparent thin films

Strain-induced variation of the refractive index is the main mechanism of strain detection in photoacoustic experiments. However, weak strain-optic coupling in many materials limits the application of photoacoustics as an imaging tool. A straightforward deposition of a transparent thin film as a top layer has previously been shown to provide signal enhancement due to elastic boundary effects. In this paper, we study photoacoustic signal formation in metal covered by thin transparent films of different thicknesses and demonstrate that in addition to boundary effects, the photoacoustic response is affected by optical effects caused by the presence of the top layer. The interplay of optical effects leads to a complex temporal signal shape that strongly depends on the thickness of the thin film.