Local heating of a liquid-like medium by a phase-conjugate ultrasound beam with self-adaptive focusing

Abstract

Local heating of a liquid-like medium by means of self-adaptive focusing of a high-power phase conjugate ultrasound wave has been experimentally implemented. A sample of organic silicon polymer with a reflecting inhomogeneity was placed in water and exposed to a plane ultrasound beam so as to make the reflected acoustic field partially to enter the phase conjugation device. A parametrically amplified and conjugate wave was self-adaptively focused back to the inhomogeneity. Thermocouple measurements revealed ultrasound heating, which was localized near the inhomogeneity and depended weakly on its position within the aperture of the incident ultrasound beam. Themaximum heating value was about 6.5°C in 120 s with a frequency of ultrasound of 4.75MHz and a mean power of phase conjugate wave of about 0.1W.