Experimental observation of anomalous absorption of bulk shear acoustic waves by a thin layer of viscous fluid

This letter presents the results of an experimental observation and investigation of the recently predicted anomalous absorption of bulk shear acoustic waves polarized normally to the plane of incidence by an ultrathin layer of viscous fluid between two elastic media. Strong increase of the absorptivity of the incident wave by the fluid layer has been observed at layer thicknesses that are much smaller than the wavelength and wave penetration depth into the fluid. A good agreement between the experimental results and the theoretical predictions has been achieved.