Binary optoacoustic holography with a spatial light modulator

A purely optical method to generate and to steer an ultrasonic beam is presented. The generation of the ultrasonic beam in the kilohertz to megahertz regime is achieved by using the optoacoustic effect in a layer attached to the surface of a water tank, which absorbs time-modulated laser pulses. In order to tailor the emitted acoustic wave, diffractive optics concepts are applied to acoustics. To this end, the laser light intensity distribution at the absorbing surface is controlled by sending a computer-calculated pattern to a transmissive high-resolution liquid-crystal display in the beam path. This results in an acoustic analog to the “diffractive optical elements” in laser optics, with the emitted ultrasonic wave emerging in a predetermined way. The proof of principle is demonstrated for examples such as phase gratings and binary Fresnel lenses. The optoacoustic ultrasound generation with holographic diffractive steering is a flexible method with the potential of new applications in ultrasound diagnos...

[1]  M. Sigrist.  Laser generation of acoustic waves in liquids and gases , 1986 .

[2]  S. Krishnaswamy,et al.  LASER GENERATION OF ULTRASOUND IN FILMS AND COATINGS , 1999 .

[3]  M. Elgar,et al.  Heritabilities and paradigm shifts , 1997, Nature.

[4]  Holger Lubatschowski,et al.  An improved method of measuring laser induced pressure transients , 1997 .

[5]  Stephen Ducharme,et al.  Two-dimensional ferroelectric films , 1998, Nature.

[6]  M. Teich,et al.  Fundamentals of Photonics , 1991 .

[7]  F. V. Bunkin,et al.  Nonresonant interaction of high-power optical radiation with a liquid , 1980 .

[8]  Gang Yao,et al.  Full-field mapping of ultrasonic field by light-source-synchronized projection. , 1999 .

[9]  H Schmidt-Kloiber,et al.  Optoacoustic tomography: time-gated measurement of pressure distributions and image reconstruction. , 2001, Applied optics.

[10]  Ernst Lueder.  Liquid Crystal Displays: Addressing Schemes and Electro-Optical Effects , 2001 .

[11]  Optical detection of ultrasound with a microchip laser. , 1994, Optics letters.

[12]  Heinrich Kuttruff,et al.  Ultrasonics fundamentals and applications , 1991 .

[13]  Heinz Schmidt-Kloiber,et al.  Measurement of laser-induced acoustic waves with a calibrated optical transducer , 1997 .

[14]  Lawrence H. Lin,et al.  Chapter 7 – LIGHT SOURCES AND OPTICAL TECHNIQUE , 1971 .

[15]  H. S. Ashton,et al.  Measurement of the optical absorption coefficient of a liquid by use of a time-resolved photoacoustic technique. , 2000, Applied optics.

[16]  Frenz,et al.  Laser-generated cavitation in absorbing liquid induced by acoustic diffraction. , 1996, Physical review letters.

[17]  Geng Ku,et al.  Three-dimensional laser-induced photoacoustic tomography of mouse brain with the skin and skull intact. , 2003, Optics letters.

[18]  M. Somekh,et al.  Diffractive acoustic elements for laser ultrasonics , 2000 .