Laser optoacoustic spectroscopy of gold nanorods within a highly scattering medium.

We describe a spectroscopic comparative analysis based on the optoacoustic technique over the wavelength range from 410nm to 1000nm using a Q-switched Nd:YAG pumped optical parametric oscillator tunable source on a gold nanostructure solution located within a highly scattering medium. The advantages of this method over standard spectroscopy techniques are the possibility to localize and monitor the spectroscopic response of absorbing materials located within turbid media. The operation is confirmed using a comparative analysis with the spectroscopic results obtained from a reference measurement scheme, based on a highly sensitive collimated optical transmission setup in parallel and under the same experimental conditions as the optoacoustic technique.