Optoacoustic Measurements for Small-Volume Liquid Samples

High sensitivity of optoacoustic measurement method makes it possible to use it for the analysis of the liquid samples having microliter volume. The core of any measurement optoacoustic system is represented by a so-called optoacoustic cell. The paper deals with a layered prism optoacoustic cell. It is well-suited for the small-volume sample analysis. In the paper, laser-induced elastic pulse in the layered prism cell is examined at the stage of its generation, at the stage of its propagation through the body of the cell, and at the stage of the wideband pick-up with the piezoelectric transducer. This pulse serves to determine trace concentrations of various impurities in the sample. The optimization of layered prism cell parameters is proposed. Figures of merit of optoacoustic determination of lipopolysaccharides in the liquid small-volume sample with the use of the optimized layered prism cell are evaluated as an example.