Effect of time profile of laser pulse on the excitation of sound signals in a liquid with a series of laser pulses

Abstract

We have studied the sound generation with high repetition rate pulsed laser. We have solved the inhomogeneous wave equation for acoustic pressure in a liquid generated by a laser, using Green’s function formalism and convolution technique. To obtain the maximum pressure of the sound waves, we found the conditions on repetition rate and on period of laser pulse of various shapes. Our analysis shows that the sound generated in a liquid with a series of laser pulses is highly affected by the time profile of the pulses besides other parameters, namely laser beam diameter, laser beam optical wavelength, repetition rate and period of laser pulse. This effect is pronounced particularly in frequency domain. We found that the noise of higher harmonics in the generated sound can be greatly removed with the proper choice of the time profile of the laser pulses. It is found that the pressure is generated around the fundamental frequency for the half-sine and rectangular pulses, with the proper choice of repetition rate and period of pulse. The application of the present analysis for underwater communication is pointed out.