8.

1 Mechanical Effects 143

Fig. 8.1. Shapes of light pulses for excit-

ation of sound pulses. a Nd-YAG-Iaser;
b mode-coupled Nd-YAG-Iaser

80
dB
70
IV
--
60
'"5l'is 50
/0
--~ 40 !
:::.
/
'3D20 0/6

10 /
,. " Fig. 8.2. Sound amplitude as function of
oIO. J 10.2 10- 1 J 10 the laser energy per pulse for a light wave-
Energy of loser length of 1.06 J.1m

The subsequent conversion into heat is effected in several stages which accord-
ing to [1572] differ for wave and corpuscular radiation.
The sound pulse closely corresponds to the shape of the light pulse and by using
an appropriate type of laser one may influence the Fourier spectrum of the sound
pulse by the narrowness of the light pulse [1387]. In the range 1 to 30 MHz, which is
useful for testing materials, suitable laser pulses are shown in Fig. 8.1. For higher
frequencies up to 100 MHz one can use pulses in accordance with Fig. 8.1 b.
The relation between the generated sound amplitude and the energy of the light
pulse for longitudinal ultrasonic waves is given in Fig. 8.2. For low light energies the
relationship is linear but with higher energies a plasma layer is built up on the sur-
face which increases the sound pressure considerably. This range in Fig. 8.2 goes
from 0.3 to 1.0 J, energies commonly used for materials testing. In this range sound
pressures can be reached of the same order as those produced by piezo-electric gen-
erators, and without damaging the surface of the specimen.
Fundamentally, incident light pulses can excite all types of sound wave, but
there are possibilities of exciting certain types preferentially (Fig. 8.3). For example
longitudinal waves are generated when the surface is covered by a plasma
(Fig.8.3b).
The reason for this effect is to be found in the recoil forces of the plasma. If it is
required to generate surface waves preferentially a shock must be applied to the sur-
face only over a length small compared to the required wavelength, especially by us-
ing a short rise-time of the light pulse. A directional surface wave is obtained by