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Absorption enhancement and shadowing effects were investigated for nigrosin-laden quartz (fibrous), Teflon (matted), and polycarbonate (membrane) filters in inert surroundings at different sample steady-state temperatures and particle mass loadings. Sample absorptivity was determined using a novel laser-heating technique, which is based on perturbing the sample steady-state temperature and monitoring the thermal response during decay back to steady state, along with a model for thermal energy conservation. In addition, transmissivity measurements were carried out to enable determination of the sample absorption coefficient. The results indicated that the isolated-nigrosin absorption coefficient decreased with steady-state temperature and increased with mass loading and filter pore size. Comparing the absorption coefficient for both the isolated nigrosin and nigrosin-laden filters, indicated that absorption enhancement was most significant for the Teflon filters and least significant for the polycarbonate filters. The effect became more significant as the pore size decreased, steady-state temperature increased, and particle mass loading decreased. The decrease in the isolated-nigrosin, mass-specific absorption cross-section with heavier sample loadings was attributed to shadowing effects. Copyright 2014 American Association for Aerosol Research [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]