Holographic extraction of plane waves from an ultrasound beam for acoustic characterization of an absorbing layer of finite dimensions

For the acoustic characterization of materials, a method is proposed for interpreting experiments with finite-sized transducers and test samples in terms of the idealized situation in which plane waves are transmitted through an infinite plane-parallel layer. The method uses acoustic holography, which experimentally provides complete knowledge of the wave field by recording pressure waveforms at points on a surface intersected by the acoustic beam. The measured hologram makes it possible to calculate the angular spectrum of the beam to decompose the field into a superposition of plane waves propagating in different directions. Because these waves cancel one another outside the beam, the idealized geometry of an infinite layer can be represented by a sample of finite size if its lateral dimensions exceed the width of the acoustic beam. The proposed method relies on holograms that represent the acoustic beam with and without the test sample in the transmission path. The method is described theoretically, and its capabilities are demonstrated experimentally for silicone rubber samples by measuring their frequency-dependent phase velocities and absorption coefficients in the megahertz frequency range.