Generation of inhomogeneous bulk plane acoustic modes by laser-induced thermoelastic grating near mechanically free surface

Abstract

The detailed theoretical description of how picosecond plane shear acoustic transients can be excited by ultrafast lasers in isotropic media is presented. The processes leading to excitation of inhomogeneous plane bulk compression/dilatation (c/d) and shear acoustic modes by transient laser interference pattern at a mechanically free surface of an elastically isotropic medium are analyzed. Both pure modes are dispersive. The modes can be evanescent or propagating. The mechanical displacement vector in both propagating modes is oriented obliquely to the mode propagation direction. Consequently the c/d mode is not purely longitudinal and shear mode is not purely transversal. Each of the propagating modes has a plane wave front parallel to the surface and the amplitude harmonically modulated along the surface. Inhomogeneous shear acoustic mode cannot be generated in isotropic medium by thermal expansion and is excited by mode conversion of laser-generated inhomogeneous c/d acoustic mode incident on the surface. The spectral transformation function of the laser radiation conversion into shear modes has one of its maxima at a frequency corresponding to transmission from laser-induced generation of propagating to laser-induced generation of evanescent c/d modes. At this particular frequency the shear waves are due to their Cherenkov emission by bulk longitudinal acoustic waves skimming along the laser-irradiated surface, which are generated by laser-induced gratings synchronously. There exists an interval of frequencies where only shear acoustic modes are launched in the material by laser-induced grating, while c/d modes generated by thermoelastic optoacoustic conversion are evanescent. Propagating picosecond plane shear acoustic fronts excited by interference pattern of fs-ps laser pulses can be applied for the determination of the shear rigidity by optoacoustic echoes diagnostics of thin films and coatings. Theoretical predictions are correlated with available results of experiments and of numerical modeling.