<p>This paper introduces the technique of the improved modified extended tanh function method to examine the effects of laser pulse phenomena on a thermo-elastic material with temperature dependence within a coupled theory. Nonlinear thermo-elasticity is considered here due to its relevance in scenarios where a material’s response to varying thermal loads results in significant alterations to both its shape and intrinsic properties. This area of study is essential for accurately capturing real-world behaviors, such as thermal stress distributions in large-scale structures, material performance at different temperatures, and the complex interplay between mechanical and thermal effects. Using the proposed method, we have derived a range of exact solutions with distinct free parameters. These include bright soliton, rational, exponential, and hyperbolic solutions. Additionally, some of these findings, covering temperature, displacement, and stress tensor components, are illustrated graphically to enhance clarity and the interpretation of the results.</p>