Similarities between pressure wave propagation and photopyroelectric spectroscopic techniques

The Pressure Wave Pulse (PWP) technique is a powerful method used to determine electric polarization profile in films of polymeric materials, and the Photopyroelectric Spectroscopy (PPES) has been applied with a great success in the study of thermal and optical properties of semiconductor and glass materials. In this article we show that the PWP and the PPES are equally useful techniques to investigate, respectively, the charge distribution of poled soda-lime glass and thermal and optical parameters of polymer films. Some similarities, as well as some differences, of these techniques are discussed