| Abstract | Acoustic second harmonic generation in solids is difficult to measure and often requires careful sample preparation. In this paper, a heterodyneinterferometer modified to measure acoustic fundamental and second harmonics is presented. It requires relatively little sample preparation and it provides noncontact, wideband, absolute, and pointlike measurements. It is shown that the output of an ideal heterodyneinterferometer does not contain any even harmonics of a single-frequency acoustic signal. Odd harmonics, however, are produced in calculable amounts. A detailed model of the interferometer is introduced to account for various sources of spurious second harmonics and the model is experimentally verified. Three methods of calibration for the absolute measurement of surface displacement are presented. Measurements of the nonlinearity parameter, β, of a fused quartz sample are shown to agree with literature values. |
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