Nonlinear Acoustics at GHz Frequencies in a Viscoelastic Fragile Glass Former

Christoph Klieber (1, 2) , Vitali Goussev (2, 3) , Thomas Pezeril (2) , Keith A Nelson (1)

1 Chemistry Department [Massachusetts Institute of Technology]
2 IMMM - Institut des Molécules et Matériaux du Mans
3 LAUM - Laboratoire d'Acoustique de l'Université du Mans

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.

Domaines: Physique [physics]; Sciences de l'ingénieur [physics]; Acoustique [physics.class-ph]

Christoph Klieber, Vitali Goussev, Thomas Pezeril, Keith A Nelson. Nonlinear Acoustics at GHz Frequencies in a Viscoelastic Fragile Glass Former. Physical Review Letters, 2015, 114 (6), ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.065701⟩. ⟨hal-02534230⟩