Propagation characteristics of shock waves from a plane carbon-nanotube-coated optoacoustic transducer in water

An optoacoustic transducer made of light-absorbing and elastomeric materials can generate high-pressure wide-band ultrasound waves in water when it is illuminated by a pulse laser. To generate such waves with high efficiency, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) are widely used as the light-absorbing and elastomeric materials, respectively. It was previously reported that an optoacoustic concave transducer made of these materials can produce strong shock waves, namely, blast waves, within its focal zone. In this study, we have shown that these waves can also be generated by a plane optoacoustic transducer fabricated by coating CNTs–PDMS on a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) plate. Some propagation characteristics of the blast wave generated were measured and compared with the calculated results. It was found that the propagation speed and attenuation of the wave are different from those of usual sounds. From the comparison of the measured and the calculated acoustic fields, it is assumed that every point on the transducer surface produces almost the same blast wave.