Thermoelastic investigation of a quartz tuning fork used in infrared spectroscopy

The performances of quartz tuning forks (QTF) used in infrared spectroscopy for pollutant detection are investigated. The transduction between light and QTF vibration is elucidated, thanks to QTF encapsulation under vacuum. From the sensitivity enhancement which is obtained, we conclude that their interaction is photo-thermoelastic rather than photo-thermoacoustic. A mapping of the local sensitivity of the QTF is obtained by scanning its faces with the excitation probe beam. The comparison between the signal mapping and the theoretical strain mapping indicates that the most efficient areas of the QTF correspond to the areas where the strain or stress is the highest.