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Science 10 November 1995:
Vol. 270. no. 5238, pp. 963 - 966
DOI: 10.1126/science.270.5238.963
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Reports

Chemical Generation of Acoustic Waves: A Giant Photoacoustic Effect

Huxiong Chen and Gerald Diebold

An anomalous photoacoustic effect is produced when a suspension of carbon particles in water is irradiated by a high-power, pulsed laser. The photoacoustic effect has an amplitude on the order of 2000 times that produced by a dye solution with an equivalent absorption coefficient and gives a distinctly audible sound above an uncovered cell. Transient grating experiments with carbon suspensions show a doubling of the acoustic frequency corresponding to the optical fringe spacing of the grating. The effect is thought to originate in high-temperature chemical reactions between the surface carbon and the surrounding water.


Department of Chemistry, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA.


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