Laser-induced ultrasound in multiple thin layers-An analytical solution.

Laser-induced ultrasound is based on the thermo-elastic conversion of absorbed short light pulses to pressure pulses. In the work presented here, laser-induced ultrasound in a planar structure of interconnected layers with variations in optical, thermal, and mechanical properties is studied. Layered structures can be used for generating wideband ultrasonic pulses specific to a chosen application.