Optoacoustic diagnostics of absorbing media

We have calculated the intensities of ultrasonic waves excited by counter-propagating light waves of different frequencies and scattered by spherical defects in absorbing isotropic media. We have analyzed the intensity of the scattered sound as a function of the scattering angle and the position of the defect relative to the entry face of the acoustic waveguide. We have shown that for hollow spherical defects, the intensity of the scattered sound tends toward zero for scattering angles close to 90°, and for significantly smaller angles for dense inclusions. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.