Effect of laser radiation on the refractive index of transparent liquids containing absorbing particles

Theoretical and experimental investigations were made of the effect of laser radiation on the refractive index of transparent liquids containing absorbing particles. A study was made of dependences of the change in the refractive index on the energy density of the radiation, concentration, absorption coefficient, and size of the particles, and also on the sample settling time. It is shown that the kinetics of bubble growth during boiling is governed by the process of heat transfer in the particle-vapor-liquid system and the bubble size increases mainly under gasdynamic equilibrium conditions. It is noted that this effect may be used to observe low concentrations of absorbing particles and also to obtain information on their material and size.