Generation of solitary acoustic impulses

The paper describes a method for generating extremely short airborne acoustic impulses. These impulses have a duration of only one period, similar to the well known solitons. For generating solitary acoustic impulses a narrowband acoustic transducer is needed. It should have a pronounced oscillation behaviour at the main eigenfrequency f_e. The transducer is supplied with an electric input signal, which is exactly adapted to the dynamic behaviour of the transducer. This specially formed signal has a limited duration of one period T=1/f _e. With the aid of a simple model the generation process can be explained. The theoretical results are experimentally verified and confirmed. Finally we point out on useful applications of airborne solitary acoustic impulses