Nonlinear Acoustics at GHz Frequencies in a Viscoelastic Fragile Glass Former

Using a picosecond pump-probe ultrasonic technique, we study the propagation of high-amplitude, laser-generated longitudinal coherent acoustic pulses in the viscoelastic fragile glass former DC704. We observe an increase of almost 10% in acoustic pulse propagation speed at the highest optical pump f...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Klieber, Christoph, Gusev, Vitalyi E., Pezeril, Thomas, Nelson, Keith Adam
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Physical Society 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/94492
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7804-5418
Description
Summary:Using a picosecond pump-probe ultrasonic technique, we study the propagation of high-amplitude, laser-generated longitudinal coherent acoustic pulses in the viscoelastic fragile glass former DC704. We observe an increase of almost 10% in acoustic pulse propagation speed at the highest optical pump fluence which is a result of the supersonic nature of nonlinear propagation in the viscous medium. From our measurement, we deduce the nonlinear acoustic parameter of the glass former in the gigahertz frequency range across the glass transition temperature.