Acoustic steering of audible and ultrasonic waves using THermally-induced Optical Reflection of Sound (THORS)

Abstract

In this work, we describe the phenomenon, Thermally-induced Optical Reflection of Sound (THORS), and how it can be used to optically steer acoustic waves around a 90 degree corner of a physical obstruction, where observed acoustic amplitudes are increased by a factor of 30. In addition, we discuss the introduction of ultrasonic waves to the THORS phenomenon, and preliminary results for THORS barriers generated in ambient air, using a 5.3-5.7 μm CO laser source.The manipulation and guiding of sound waves have typically required the use of physical barriers for the reflection of an incident pressure wave. With the manipulation of acoustic waves being critical for many applications in scientific and engineering fields, including subsurface tissue imaging, photoacoustic sensing, secure communications, acoustic stealth technology, and acoustic design engineering; the requirement for physical barriers often represents a significant limitation. The recently discovered phenomenon THermally-induced Optical Reflection of Sound (THORS), provides the ability to generate acoustically reflective barriers, in air, by exciting media in the path of an IR laser beam, causing abrupt changes in compressibility between the excited and surrounding media. In this work, we demonstrate the ability to efficiently reflect sound waves around physical obstructions using a laser. Additionally, this work demonstrates the ability to also manipulate ultrasonic waves via THORS barriers, where the reflection and suppression of ultrasonic pulses in the frequency range of 120-300 kHz are shown. Finally, preliminary results demonstrating the ability to employ THORS in ambient air using water vapor as the absorbing media and a 5.5 μm CO laser beam for excitation.