The laser-induced deflection (LID) technique, a photo-thermal deflection setup with transversal pump-probe-beam arrangement, is applied for sensitive and absolute absorption measurements of optical materials and coatings. Different LID concepts for bulk and transparent coating absorption measurements, respectively, are explained, focusing on providing accurate absorption data with only one measurement and one sample. Furthermore, a new sandwich concept is introduced that allows transferring the LID technique to very small sample geometries and to significantly increase the sensitivity for materials with weak photo-thermal responses. For each of the different concepts, a representative application example is given. Particular emphasis is placed on the importance of the calibration procedure for providing absolute absorption data. The validity of an electrical calibration procedure for the LID setup is proven using specially engineered surface absorbing samples. The electrical calibration procedure is then applied to evaluate two other approaches that use either doped samples or highly absorptive reference samples.
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