Fully optic characterization of acoustic impedance implementable in conventional optical microscope

The intrinsic acoustic impedance (Z) changes with inflammation and canceration. This paper proposes an optically Z measurement method using a common optical microscope for simultaneous measurement of optical-acoustical observation. Photoacoustic (PA) waves were generated by the PA effect of the pulsed laser (a 527 nm nanosecond laser light) at the black ink and resin pasted area on the outside of the bottom of the petri dish (surface A). The generated PA waves propagated to the inner boundary of the petri dish and reflected, with a reflection coefficient of R. The reflected waves propagated to surface A and vibrated it. The surface vibration was measured with a self-built Sagnac interferometer using a contentious light laser and a 10x objective lens. Measurements were made air-filled and water-filled petri dishes. The observed times of echo signal corresponded to the sound speed of longitudinal and transverse propagation. The reflected wave amplitude of air was larger than in a water-filled petri dish. They related that R water and R air are 0.24 and 1.00, respectively. There corresponds to the Z ratio of the polystyrene petri dish and the water or air inside. Thus, this result showed that sample Z was measured optically.