A new photothermal technique is proposed. It is based on the temperatu
re characteristic of the dielectric constant of light-irradiated mater
ial. A quantitative derivation is presented for the alternating capaci
tance variation in terms of the optical, thermal, dielectric and geome
tric parameters of the system. The experimental results for TiO2-Bi2Ti
O4O11 ceramics, lead zirconate titanate ceramics and ZnSe semiconducto
r are shown, where the observed signals agree with theoretical ones ve
ry well.