Point source in a phononic grating: stop bands give rise to phonon-focusing caustics

We use locally-excited gigahertz surface phonon wavepackets in microscopic line structures of different pitches to reveal profound anisotropy in the radiation pattern of a point source in a grating. Time-domain data obtained by an ultrafast optical imaging technique and by numerical simulations are Fourier transformed to obtain frequency-filtered real-space acoustic field patterns and k-space phononic band structure. The numerically-obtained k-space images are processed to reveal an intriguing double-horn structure in the lowest-order group-velocity surface, which explains the observed non-propagation sectors bounded by caustics, noted at frequencies above the bottom of the first stop band. We account for these phonon-focusing effects, analogous to collimation effects previously observed in two- and three-dimensional lattices, with a simple analytical model of the band structure based on a plane wave expansion. As the frequency is increased, a transition to dominant waveguiding effects along the lines is also documented

Low peak-power laser ultrasonics

Techniques for the successful excitation of guided ultrasonic waves using a low peak-power laser ultrasonic source are discussed and compared with more conventional Q-switched laser sources. The paper considers acoustic propagation in thin plates, in which the frequencies used, typically only the fundamental guided wave modes, are considered. Aspects of excitation and detection geometry are considered along with the physical mechanisms of photo-acoustic generation and the practical issues surrounding available source wavelengths and power outputs. Understanding of the effects of these constraints is critical for the successful application of the technique. Continuous wave excitation and fully arbitrary modulation schemes are compared, and a technique to control the bandwidth of Golay code modulation is introduced. It is shown that earlier work by the authors was capable of guided wave detection at peak-power densities of 104 W cm− 2. Later work has focussed on the use of erbium-doped fibre amplifiers combined with Golay code modulation to improve the recovered signal-to-noise ratio. Two key applications of the techniques are considered: material properties measurements (using inversion of dispersion curve data) and acoustic emission system calibration

The Molecular Identification of Organic Compounds in the Atmosphere: State of the Art and Challenges

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