Inverse scattering of elastic waves by periodic structures : uniqueness under the third or fourth kind boundary conditions

Abstract

The inverse scattering of a time-harmonic elastic wave by a two-dimensional periodic structure in R 2 is investigated. The grating profile is assumed to be a graph given by a piecewise linear function on which the third or fourth kind boundary conditions are satisfied. Via an equivalent variational formulation, existence of quasi-periodic solutions for general Lipschitz grating profiles is proved by applying the Fredholm alternative. However, uniqueness of solution to the direct problem does not hold in general. For the inverse problem, we determine and classify all the unidentifiable grating profiles corresponding to a given incident elastic field, relying on the reflection principle for the Navier equation and the rotational invariance of propagating directions of the total field. Moreover, global uniqueness for the inverse problem is established with a minimal number of incident pressure or shear waves, including the resonance case where a Rayleigh frequency is allowed. The gratings that are unidentifiable by one incident elastic wave provide non-uniqueness examples for appropriately chosen wave number and incident angles