Stress-Wave Probing of Electric Field Distributions in Dielectrics

Abstract

The spatial distribution of the electric field within a dielectric sample is shown to be obtainable unambiguously from the time dependence of the open-circuit voltage or short-circuit current during the propagation of a stress wave across the sample. Experiments in which the pressure wave is generated by the impact of a pulsed laser beam on a metal target bonded to the dielectric plate under investigation have led to the first straightforward visualization of electric field distributions in solid dielectrics.