Laser thickness measurement accuracy

In the experiment, the transmission intensities for the excited and the dark sample are determined by the number of x-ray photons (/t) recorded on the detector behind the sample, and we typically accumulate for several pump-probe shots. In the absence of external noise sources the accuracy of such a measurement is governed by the shot noise distribution, which is given by Poisson statistics of the transmitted pulse intensity. Indeed, we have demonstrated that we can suppress the majority of electronic noise in experiment, which validates this rather idealistic treatment [13,14]. Applying the error propagation formula to eq. (1) then delivers the experimental noise of the measurement, and we can thus calculate the signal-to-noise ratio S/N as a function of the input parameters. Most important is hereby the sample concentration nsam at the chosen sample thickness d. Via the occasionally very different absorption cross sections in the optical (pump) and the x-ray (probe) domains it will determine the fraction of excited state species as a function of laser fluence. 

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