Interactive Computer-Aided Analysis for Bulk Acoustic Waves in Materials of Arbitrary Anisotropy and Piezoelectricity

Abstract

Absfmcf-A computer-aided analysis program is described which makes it possible to calculate interactively, on a personal computer, the main properties of bulk acoustic waves in materials of arbitrary anisotropy and piezoelectricity. Curves of the slownesses, the electromechanical coupling constants, and the power flow angles can be simultaneously displayed for propagation in an arbitrary plane. Numerical data for propagation in a particular direction is displayed by moving an electronic cursor to the desired direction. Examples are given illustrating the usefulness of the program in the design of bulk wave transducers, the calculation of acoustooptic figures of merit, and the calculation of cutoff velocities for surface waves on layered media. The program formulation uses the material constants of a rotated coordinate system which, while it may not be the most convenient approach for some specific crystal orientation, has the pedagogical advantages of yielding simple expressions for the group velocities, power-flow angles, and electromechanical coupling constants. This paper, although it does not contain any original material, brings together in one work results which come from many sources.