Impact of THz Frequency on Underwater Acoustic Wave Propagation for Short Range Wireless Applications

Abstract

Acoustic propagation in seawater is an important aspect of scientific investigation. However, the impact of the THz scale frequencies for acoustic propagation is not included in the studies. Thus, a finite element analysis of such propagation in a seawater medium is presented in this paper applying THz frequencies. A transmitter (circular with a diameter of 14 mm, a thickness of 3 mm) and a rectangular receiver (20×10×0.5 mm3) are designed to trace the variations in the propagation mediums. A propagation medium of seawater (70×40×60 mm3) with ice and softwood is modelled. A scale of frequencies (1 kHz to 1 THz) is applied to trace the impact on the propagation pattern. It is found that THz range frequencies provide a very small wavelength. As a result, the potential propagation distance is very small. As such, the sound pressure level, displacements of the receiver and pressure field shows very rapid drops in the magnitude. This work considers only 70 mm as propagation distance, yet the sharp decrement of performance parameters suggests that it is rather inconvenient to achieve useful efficiency using THz frequencies for acoustic propagation.