  A Rayleigh-type surface acoustic wave (SAW) is used in various fields as
classical and quantum information carriers because of its surface localization,
high electrical controllability, and low propagation loss. Coupling and
hybridization between the SAW and other physical systems such as magnetization,
electron charge, and electron spin are the recent focuses in phononics and
spintronics. A precise measurement of the surface wave amplitude is often
necessary to discuss the coupling strengths. However, there are only a few such
measurement techniques and they generally require a rather complex analysis.
Here we develop and demonstrate a straightforward measurement technique that
can quantitatively characterize the SAW. The technique optically detects the
surface waving due to the coherently driven SAW by the optical path modulation.
Furthermore, when the measurement system operates in the shot-noise-limited
regime, the surface slope and displacement at the optical spot can be deduced
from the optical path modulation signal. Our demonstrated technique will be an
important tool for SAW-related research.
