Acoustooptic analysis of high frequency wideband sound field schlieren imaging

Schlieren imaging of acoustic waves has been used routinely for at least half a century. The nature of the image has conventionally been analyzed by various ray tracing techniques or wavefront corrugation calculations. These are restricted to low sound frequencies or thin sound fields. We present a novel method, based on acoustooptic plane wave interaction theory, that not only is applicable to high frequencies but reveals some unexpected features of schlieren imaging.