Arnaud DERODE

Résumé: Reflection seismic imaging usually suffers from a loss of resolution and contrast because of the fluctuations of the wave velocities in the Earth's crust. In the literature, phase distortion issues are generally circumvented by means of a background wave velocity model. However, it requires a prior tomography of the wave velocity distribution in the medium, which is often not possible, especially in depth. In this paper, a matrix approach of seismic imaging is developed to retrieve a 3-D image of the subsoil, despite a rough knowledge of the background wave velocity. To do so, passive noise cross-correlations between geophones of a seismic array are investigated under a matrix formalism. They form a reflection matrix that contains all the information available on the medium. A set of matrix operations can then be applied in order to extract the relevant information as a function of the problem considered. On the one hand, the background seismic wave velocity can be estimated and its fluctuations quantified by projecting the reflection matrix in a focused basis. It consists in investigating the response between virtual sources and detectors synthesized at any point in the medium. The minimization of their cross-talk can then be used as a guide star for approaching the actual wave velocity distribution. On the other hand, the detrimental effect of wave velocity fluctuations on imaging is overcome by introducing a novel mathematical object: The distortion matrix. This operator essentially connects any virtual source inside the medium with the distortion that a wavefront, emitted from that point, experiences due to heterogeneities. A time reversal analysis of the distortion matrix enables the estimation of the transmission matrix that links each real geophone at the surface and each virtual geophone in depth. Phase distortions can then be compensated for any point of the underground. Applied to passive seismic data recorded along the Clark branch of the San Jacinto fault zone (SJFZ), the present method is shown to provide an image of the fault until a depth of 4 km over the frequency range 10-20Hz with an horizontal resolution of 80 m. Strikingly, this resolution is almost one eighth below the diffraction limit imposed by the geophone array aperture. The heterogeneities of the subsoil play the role of a scattering lens and of a transverse waveguide which increase drastically the array aperture. The contrast is also optimized since most of the incoherent noise is eliminated by the iterative time reversal process. Beyond the specific case of the SJFZ, the reported approach can be applied to any scales and areas for which a reflection matrix is available at a spatial sampling satisfying the Nyquist criterion.

Résumé: © 2017, The Author(s).We present measurements of the diffusion coefficient of ultrasound in strongly scattering three-dimensional (3D) disordered media using the dynamic coherent backscattering (CBS) effect. Our experiments measure the CBS of ultrasonic waves using a transducer array placed in the far-field of a 3D slab sample of brazed aluminum beads surrounded by vacuum. We extend to 3D media the general microscopic theory of CBS that was developed initially for acoustic waves in 2D. This theory is valid in the strong scattering, but still diffuse, regime that is realized in our sample, and is evaluated in the diffuse far field limit encountered in our experiments. By comparing our theory with the experimental data, we obtain an accurate measurement of the Boltzmann diffusion coefficient of ultrasound in our sample. We find that the value of DB is quite small, 0.74 ± 0.03 mm2/μs, and comment on the implications of this slow transport for the energy velocity.

Résumé: © 2016 Acoustical Society of America. In this paper, ultrasound measurements of 1:1 scale three-dimensional (3D) printed trabecular bone phantoms are reported. The micro-structure of a trabecular horse bone sample was obtained via synchrotron x-ray microtomography, converted to a 3D binary data set, and successfully 3D-printed at scale 1:1. Ultrasound through-transmission experiments were also performed through a highly anisotropic version of this structure, obtained by elongating the digitized structure prior to 3D printing. As in real anisotropic trabecular bone, both the fast and slow waves were observed. This illustrates the potential of stereolithography and the relevance of such bone phantoms for the study of ultrasound propagation in bone.

Résumé: We report measurements of the transmitted coherent (ensemble-averaged) wave resulting from the interaction of an ultrasonic shock wave with a two-dimensional random medium. Despite multiple scattering, the coherent waveform clearly shows the steepening that is typical of nonlinear harmonic generation. This is taken advantage of to measure the elastic mean free path and group velocity over a broad frequency range (2-15 MHz) in only one experiment. Experimental results are found to be in good agreement with a linear theoretical model taking into account spatial correlations between scatterers. These results show that nonlinearity and multiple scattering are both present, yet uncoupled. © 2013 American Physical Society.

Résumé: The ultrasonic inspection of multiple scattering media gives rise to structural noise which makes it difficult to detect potential damage or crack inside the component. In order to predict the performances of ultrasonic inspection over such complex media, scattering models can be used. Such models rely on specific key parameters describing the multiple scattering process, which can be determined by specific measurements and post-processing techniques. Such experiments were carried out on stainless steel plates using linear phased-arrays. They consist in recording the response matrix constituted by impulse responses between all the elements of the array. By conducting post-processing on this matrix, we measure the elastic mean free path le and the correlation distance dc of the recorded noise. Additionally, the dynamic behaviour of the coherent backscattering effect was studied in order to measure the diffusion constant D. Plane-wave beamforming has been applied to the response matrix to improve the angular resolution and the signal-to-noise ratio of the backscattered intensity. Details of postprocessing techniques will be shown. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.

Résumé: Waves scattered by a weakly inhomogeneous random medium contain a predominant single-scattering contribution as well as a multiple-scattering contribution which is usually neglected, especially for imaging purposes. A method based on random matrix theory is proposed to separate the single- and multiple-scattering contributions. The experimental setup uses an array of sources/receivers placed in front of the medium. The impulse responses between every couple of transducers are measured and form a matrix. Single-scattering contributions are shown to exhibit a deterministic coherence along the antidiagonals of the array response matrix, whatever the distribution of inhomogeneities. This property is taken advantage of to discriminate single- from multiple-scattered waves. This allows one to evaluate the absorption losses and the scattering losses separately, by comparing the multiple-scattering intensity with a radiative transfer model. Moreover, the relative contribution of multiple scattering in the backscattered wave can be estimated, which serves as a validity test for the Born approximation. Experimental results are presented with ultrasonic waves in the megahertz range, on a synthetic sample (agar-gelatine gel) as well as on breast tissues. Interestingly, the multiple-scattering contribution is found to be far from negligible in the breast around 4.3 MHz. © 2011 Acoustical Society of America.

Résumé: We present an imaging technique particularly suited to the detection of a target embedded in a strongly scattering medium. Classical imaging techniques based on the Born approximation fail in this kind of configuration because of multiply scattered echoes and aberration distortions. The experimental setup we consider uses an array of programmable transmitters/receivers. A target is placed behind a scattering medium. The impulse responses between all array elements are measured and form a matrix. The core of the method is to separate the single scattered echo of the target from the multiple scattering background. This is possible because of a deterministic coherence along the antidiagonals of the array response matrix, which is typical of single scattering. Once this operation is performed, target detection is achieved by applying the DORT method (French acronym for decomposition of the time reversal operator). Experimental results are presented in the case of wide-band ultrasonic waves around 3 MHz. A 125-element array is placed in front of a collection of randomly distributed steel rods (diameter of 0.8 mm). The slab thickness is three times the scattering mean free path. The target is a larger steel cylinder (diameter of 15 mm) that we try to detect and localize. The quality of detection is assessed theoretically based on random matrix theory and is shown to be significantly better than what is obtained with classical imaging methods. Aside from multiple scattering, the technique is also shown to reduce the aberrations induced by a heterogeneous layer. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.

Résumé: Correlations of ambient seismic or acoustic vibrations are now widely used to reconstruct the impulse response between two passive receivers as if a source was placed at one of them. This provides the opportunity to do imaging without a source, or passive imaging. Applications include terrestrial and solar seismology, underwater acoustics, and structural health monitoring, to cite only a few. Nevertheless, for a given set of data, correlations do not only yield Green's function between the sensors. They also contain residual fluctuations that result from an imperfect time or source averaging that might eventually blur the images. In this article, we propose a heuristic model to describe the level of fluctuations of the correlations in the case of nonstationary wavefields, and more particularly in the case of scattering media. The work includes theoretical derivations and numerical simulations. The role of multiple scattering is quantitatively evaluated. The level of fluctuations decreases when the duration and intensity of the diffuse waves increase. The role of absorption is also discussed: absorption is properly retrieved by correlation, but the level of fluctuations is greater, thus degrading Green's function reconstruction. Discrepancies of our simple model in the case of strong multiple scattering (k * ≤18) are discussed. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Résumé: As classical imaging fails with diffusive media, one way to image a multiple-scattering medium is to achieve local measurements of the dynamic transport properties of a wave undergoing diffusion. This paper presents a method to obtain local measurements of the diffusion constant D in a multiple-scattering medium. The experimental setup consists in an array of programmable transducers placed in front of the multiple-scattering medium to be imaged. By achieving Gaussian beamforming both at emission and reception, an array of virtual sources and receivers located in the near field is constructed. The time evolution of the incoherent component of the intensity backscattered on this virtual array is shown to represent directly the growth of the diffusive halo as Dt. A matrix treatment is proposed to separate the incoherent intensity from the coherent backscattering peak. Once the incoherent contribution is isolated, a local measurement of the diffusion constant is possible. The technique is applied to image the long-scale variations of D in a random-scattering sample made of two parts with a different concentration of cylindrical scatterers. This experimental result is obtained with ultrasonic waves around 3 MHz. It illustrates the possibility of imaging diffusive media from local measurements of the diffusion constant, based on coherent Gaussian beamforming and a matrix "antisymmetrization," which creates a virtual antireciprocity. © 2007 The American Physical Society.

Résumé: Experimental measurements of the coherent wave transmission for ultrasonic waves propagating in water through a random set of scatterers (metallic rods) are presented. Though the densities are moderate (6% and 14%) the experimental results show that the mean-free path deviates from the classical first-order approximation due to the existence of correlations between scatterers. Theoretical results for the mean free path obtained from different approaches are compared to the experimental measurements. The best agreement is obtained with the second-order diagrammatic expansion of the self-energy. © 2006 The American Physical Society.

Résumé: In this letter, time reversal is applied to wideband electromagnetic waves in a reverberant room. To that end a multiantenna time reversal mirror (TRM) has been built. A 150 MHz bandwidth pulse at a central frequency of 2.45 GHz is radiated by a monopolar antenna, spread in time due to reverberation, recorded at the TRM, time reversed, and retransmitted. The time-reversed wave converges back to its source and focus in both time and space. The time compression is studied versus the number of antennas in the TRM and its bandwidth. The focal spot is also measured thanks to an eight-channel receiving array. © 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Résumé: A one-channel time-reversal (TR) experiment is performed inside a rough reverberating cavity in the presence of a rotational flow. The amplitude of the TR wave is plotted versus the distance between the TR channel and the initial source: when they coincide, it exhibits a "time-reversal enhancement" (TRE). With no flow, the TRE is the same as the coherent backscattering enhancement (CBE). But contrary to CBE, the TRE peak is shown to be insensitive to the breaking down of reciprocity due to the flow. This new effect of weak localization is sustained by a diagrammatic approach. © 2005 The American Physical Society.

Résumé: We present a method to transmit digital information through a highly scattering medium in a MIMO-MU (multiple input multiple output multiple users) context. It is based on iterations of a time-reversal process, and permits us to focus short pulses, both spatially and temporally, from a base antenna to different users. This iterative technique is shown to be more efficient (lower inter-symbol interference and lower error rate) than classical time-reversal communication, while being computationally light and stable. Experiments are presented: digital information is conveyed from 15 transmitters to 15 receivers by ultrasonic waves propagating through a highly scattering slab. From a theoretical point of view, the iterative technique achieves the inverse filter of propagation in the subspace of non-null singular values of the time-reversal operator. We also investigate the influence of external additive noise, and show that the number of iterations can be optimized to give the lowest error rate. © 2004 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Résumé: A one-channel electromagnetic time-reversal mirror (TRM) was used for investigating the feasibility of time reversal focusing with electromagnetic waves in the GHz range. Two omnidirectional antennas with a frequency of 2.45 GHz and two transceiver circuit boards were also used for the investigations. The baseband signals were time reversed and the wave carriers were phase conjugated in order to avoid digitizing the radio signals at GHz frequencies. The circuit boards demodulated the radio frequency signal back to the baseband. The frequency bandwidth and the spectral correlations determined the quality of focusing.

Résumé: We present experimental results on the reversibility of ultrasound in a multiple scattering medium. An ultrasonic pulsed wave is transmitted from a point source to a 128-element receiving array through 2D samples with various thickness. The samples consist of random collections of parallel steel rods immersed in water. The scattered waves are recorded, time reversed and sent back into the medium. The time-reversed waves are converging back to their source and the quality of spatial and temporal focusing on the source is related to the second-order moments of the scattered wave (correlation) in time and in space. Experimental results show that it is possible to obtain a robust estimation of the correlations on a single realisation of disorder, taking advantage of the wide frequency bandwidth. The spatial resolution of the system is only limited by the correlation length of the scattered field, and no longer by diffraction. Moreover, successful time-reversal focusing using a single element instead of an array is possible, whereas a one-channel monochromatic phase conjugation fails. The efficiency of broad-band time reversal compared to monochromatic phase conjugation lies in the number of 'information grains' in the frequency bandwidth. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Résumé: Analysis of experimental results on the robustness of acoustic focusing in a multiple scattering medium undergoing perturbations was presented. A time reversal experiment was performed to follow its time-dependent evolution in a perturbed random medium. The method was found to be analogous to the diffusive acoustic wave spectroscopy developed to study fluidized suspensions of particles.

Résumé: In classical mechanics, a time-reversal experiment with a large number of particles is impossible. Because of the high sensitivity to initial conditions, one would need to resolve the positions and velocities of each particle with infinite accuracy. Thus, it would require an infinite amount of information, which is of course out of reach. In wave physics however, the amount of information required to describe a wave field is limited and depends on the shortest wavelength of the field. Thus we can propose an acoustic equivalent of the experiment we mentioned above. We start with a coherent transient pulse, let it propagate through a disordered highly scattering medium, then record the scattered field and time-reverse it: surprisingly, it travels back to its initial source, which is not predictable by usual theories for random media. Indeed, to study waves propagation in disordered media theoreticians, who find it difficult to deal with one realization of disorder, use concepts defined as an average over the realizations, which naturally leads to the diffusion approximation. But the corresponding equation is not time-reversal invariant and thus fails in describing our experiment. Then, to understand our experimental results and try to predict new ones, we have developed a finite elements simulation based on the real microscopic time-invariant equation of propagation. The experimental and numerical results are found to be in very good agreement.

Résumé: Random multiple scattering of ultrasound was analyzed using statistical approach techniques. An ultrasonic pulsed wave transmitted from a point source to a 128-element receiving array was studied through two dimensional samples with various thickness. It is found that the transmitted wave forms exhibits a time-dependent frequency spectrum. The results show that the secondary wave forms on the coherent wave form is produced due to the presence of elastic resonance in the given frequency bandwidth.

Résumé: A set of ultrasonic experimental methods was developed to characterize a multiple scattering medium in terms of l(s), l*, l(a), respectively, the elastic, transport, and absorption mean free paths and D the diffusion constant. Actually, these quantities are the key parameters for a wave propagating in a disordered medium. Although they are widely used in optics, they are less common in acoustics. The underlying model is based on the expansion of the average solution for the heterogeneous Green's function equation. To validate this theoretical approach, a sample made of randomly located steel rods was used as a prototype. Through time-resolved measurements of the transmitted amplitude, the difference between the ballistic and the coherent wave is highlighted. In varying the sample thickness, l(s) is determined, the coherent and diffusive regime are distinguished, and the transition from one to the other is followed. Furthermore, as a limit to a description of the average intensity based on the diffusion approximation, the existence of a coherent backscattering effect is shown. This latter gives a method to estimate D and l*. These quantities being determined, it becomes possible to infer l(a) using average time-resolved intensity measurements. Finally, some applications to coarse-grain stainless steels are discussed. (C) 2000 Acoustical Society of America.

Résumé: We report the first experiments using the reversibility of a transient acoustic wave in a multiple-scattering medium to simulate either a stationary or a dynamic acoustic lens. The method is based on time reversal experiments performed in a backscattering configuration. In the stationary case, we show that we take advantage of multiple scattering to focus better than with a perfect reflecting interface. In the dynamic case, we explain the refocused spot time evolution by a simple model based on the time-dependent ability to recover the angular spectrum thanks to both single- and multiple-scattering paths.

Résumé: In a recent paper [Derode and Fink, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 101, 690-704 (1997)], a technique for studying spatial coherence properties of backscattered speckle noise by means of a transducers array was described. In this paper another approach is presented. Here, a single transducer, focusing inside a scattering medium, is moved in a plane; correlation is studied between signals acquired in two different positions. A study investigates how the correlation function of the medium determines that of the speckle noise This is applied to fully or partially incoherent media, and media with anisotropic scatterer distribution such as unidirectional and cross-ply composites; we show that it is possible to extract information about the medium from a measurement of the backscattered field correlation length. The influence of correlation length on defect detection is discussed. Experimental as well as theoretical results are presented, they are found in good agreement.