Dispersion and attenuation of surface acoustic waves of shear horizontal polarization on a free surface of a hexagonal crystal with a structurally damaged isotropic surface layer

The phase velocity dispersion and the inverse attenuation length of surface acoustic waves of shear horizontal polarization propagating along a free flat (smooth) surface of a hexagonal crystal (Z cut) in the presence of a thin (compared to the wavelength) structurally damaged surface layer are found in the analytical form. It is shown that, in the long-wavelength limit (the wavelength is large compared to the characteristic size of layer inhomogeneities), which is of the greatest interest to experimenters, the change in the phase velocity dispersion and the change in the inverse attenuation length are proportional to the third and sixth powers of the wave frequency, respectively. The inverse attenuation length is numerically calculated.