Propagation of acoustic surface waves in multilayers: A matrix description

Abstract

A matrix formalism is outlined for studying surface wave propagation in layered structures utilizing materials of arbitrary anisotropy, piezoelectricity, and conductivity. The analytical formulation reduces the equations describing the system to a first-order matrix differential equation which is readily solved. The conceptual advantages and reduction of programming effort and computing time resulting from this approach are illustrated using as examples an infinite plate, a multilayer plate, a layered half-space, and a free half-space.