Transmission of Ultrasonic Waves in Optical Fibers with the Use of Sandwich Type Transducer

Optical fibers are commonly used to transmit laser beams.
The possibility of acoustic wave propagation in optical waveguides creates new
prospects for simultaneous transmission of laser beams and ultrasonic waves.
This combined technology could be useful in e.g. surgical treatment. A
comparative analysis of both systems shows that combining the advantages of
ultrasounds and laser light in one device, makes it possible to compensate for
the faults of each of the technologies and to improve the effectiveness of
surgical operations. The article presents the results of experimental studies of
transmission of ultrasonic wave in optical fibers using a sandwich-type
ultrasonic power transducer. It also presents amplitude characteristics of an
ultrasonic signal propagated in an optical fiber. The effect of the length of
the fiber on the achieved output signal amplitudes was studied. The relation of
the output signal of a capacitive sensor to the power applied to the
sandwich-type transducer was presented. The reflected power during ultrasonic
wave propagation in an optical fiber was also measured. The measurements of the
ultrasonic wave transmission were performed for single-mode and multi-mode
step-index optical fibers.