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Article

Acoustic Wavefronts in Crystalline Solids

SEP 01, 1995
New imaging techniques have made possible the first observations of vibrational wavefronts from point sources, providing insight into the propagation and interference of acoustic waves in solids.
James P. Wolfe

Drop a pebble into a pond and the result is quite predictable: A circular wave expands out from the disturbance. Similarly, sound waves in the atmosphere radiate spherically from a point source. Vibrational waves in a solid medium, however, exhibit a much more intriguing behavior.

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References

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  3. 3. For a review of this technique, see L. Bergmann, Ultrasonics and Their Scientific and Technical Applications, Wiley, New York (1938).
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  7. 7. See also J. Wesner, K. U. Wurz, K. Hillman, W. Grill, in Phonon Scattering in Condensed Matter VII, M. Meissner, R. O. Pohl, eds., Springer, Berlin (1993), p. 68.

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  15. 15. See, for example, S. Hunklinger, W. Ludwig, G. Weiss, eds., Phonons 89, World Scientific, Singapore (1990).

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More about the authors

James P. Wolfe, University of Illinois, Urbana‐Champaign.

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This Content Appeared In
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Volume 48, Number 9

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