Heterodyne detected transient grating spectroscopy in resonant and non-resonant systems using a simplified diffractive optics method

We report a simplified optical heterodyne detected transient grating setup consisting of a single diffractive optical element based on modifications o f the arrangement used by Miller and co-workers [J. Phys. Chem. A, 103 (199 9) 10619]. Our arrangement features ease of alignment, suppression of scatt ering and is free of pump-probe contamination in the detected transient gra ting signals. The capability of our arrangement is demonstrated by measurem ents on a nonresonant system, CS2, and a resonant system, malachite green i n ethanol. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.