Determination of the refractive-index change in the excited state based on transient absorption microscopy

Photoinduced excited-state carriers can affect both the absorption coefficient and refractive index of materials and influence the performance of photoelectric devices. Femtosecond time-resolved pump–probe transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy is usually used to detect carrier dynamics and excited-state absorption coefficients; however, measurements of transient refractive-index change are still difficult. We propose a method for determining the excited-state refractive-index change using TA microscopy. In TA measurements, a Fabry–Pérot cavity formed by the front and back surfaces of the sample could lead to interference of the probe light. As the wavelength of standing waves in the Fabry–Pérot cavity is closely related to the refractive index, the carrier-induced excited-state refractive-index change was obtained by comparing the transmission probe spectra between the ground and excited states. The proposed method was used to study the dynamics of excited-state refractive-index change in a perovskite film.