Linear and nonlinear imaging of ferroelastic domaines in neodymium pentaphosphate

A multi-element transducer design with a single acoustic lens is incorporated in the present acoustic microscope to continue the quest for responses that are uniquely observable by the nonlinear interaction of acoustic waves in a material. Contrast between ferroelastic domains in neodymium pentaphosphate have been observed using the oblique configurations of the microscope and even greater contrast has been achieved using the nonlinear, off-specular mode. The authors conclude that important information about the acoustic properties of the ferroelastic domains can be extracted from images obtained with their SAM which are not obtainable using more ''conventional'' SAMs