Novel method for measuring transient surface temperatures with high spatial and temporal resolution

Rapid temperature fluctuations occurring at the surfaces of solids over areas as small as a few wavelengths in diameter can be measured by a new technique. The sample is coated with a semiconductor film which exhibits a suitable shift of its absorption edge with temperature. It is shown that changes in the transmission of an incident monochromatic beam can be used to measure the thermal transients of the underlying surface with a spatial resolution as high as ∼1λ and a temporal resolution as high as 1 nsec. © 1972 The American Institute of Physics.