Laser Optoacoustics

The field of optoacoustics is currently undergoing a renaissance. Although optoacoustic effects were described by Bell as early as 1880, the field was for many years neglected. Precise measurements were difficult as the state of prevailing technology, the expense of research, and the high degree of precision required made applications problematic. Since the development of appropriate laser technology, however, interest and applications have blossomed, and optoacoustics is now being put to use in optical and IR spectroscopy, nondestructive testing, chemical analysis, and a broad range of other applications.Written by two of the emerging field's most prominent researchers, Laser Optoacoustics is a comprehensive description of new techniques for non-contact ultrasonic measurements based on the use of laser optics. It is the first study using a unified approach - the transfer function method - to the specifics natured of the pulsed mode.Laser Optoacoustics opens with a qualitative analysis of the principal mechanism and properties of optoacoustic excitation of sound. The next two chapters are methodological and provide a basis for analyzing optoacoustic phenomena in more complex cases. Optoacoustic interactions under conditions of various nonlinearities of the medium are then described. The final chapter contains a survey of experimental pulsed optoacoustic methods based on concepts developed earlier in the book. Throughout, methodological issues are given special attention. All the fundamental and important results of the field are discussed.For physicists, engineers, and researchers working in optoacoustics, laser interactions, and non-destructive evaluation by laser ultrasonics, Laser Optoacoustics will be an indispensable guide to this increasingly prominent and productive field.