Dislocation Contribution to the Second Harmonic Generation of Ultrasonic Waves

Abstract
The experimental evidence and the associated theory are presented for the dislocation contribution to the generation of the second harmonic of an ultrasonic wave in solids. The contribution is measured through the changes, as a function of static bias stress, in the amplitude of the second harmonic of a fundamental wave (10 Mc/sec compressional wave) propagating in the specimen. In aluminum single crystals the amplitude of the second harmonic, for a given amplitude of the fundamental, changes markedly with static bias stresses ranging from 0 to 106 dyn/cm2. In alloys, there are essentially no changes of the amplitude of the second harmonic even for bias stresses up to 107 dyn/cm2. These observations are consistent with the predicted dependence of the amplitude on dislocation loop length and on the static stress. The effects of small amounts of plastic deformation were consistent with the proposed model.