RESEARCHERS FOCUSED ON PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Optical NDE/ Laser Ultrasonics Laboratories
Five laboratories with a combined area exceeding 3000.023 ft.2 in Maryland and Krieger Halls on Homewood Campus are dedicated to the development of novel optical and microwave metrology techniques for characterization of materials properties. A significant portion of these laboratories is dedicated to non-contact laser generation and detection of ultrasound for materials characterization. Special equipment for laser based ultrasonics includes five electro-optically Q-switched Nd:YAG lasers, one with both frequency doubling and tripling capabilities; a ten cavity Nd:YAG laser system for phased array and narrow-band ultrasound generation; two passively Q-switched Nd:YAG lasers; two stabilized Michelson interferometers; a fiber delivered heterodyne interferometer; several Fabry-Perot interferometers; a scanning mirror based C-scan system; and a translation stage based C-scan system. The most recent additions to the laser ultrasonics facilities are a tunable femtosecond Ti:Sapphire laser system for generating extremely high frequency ultrasound for thin film characterization and a Near Field Scanning Optical Microscope.
In addition to the laser ultrasonics facilities detailed above, the Optical NDE laboratories also have significant equipment for optical holography, shearography, laser speckle techniques, and fibre optic sensors. Specific equipment includes a frequency doubled acousto-optically Q-switched Nd:YAG laser; three CW diode pumped frequency doubled CW Nd:YAG lasers, several He-Ne lasers, two reusable holographic camera systems, and two laser based non-contact in-plane strain measurement systems.
General equipment in the Optical NDE laboratories includes several high speed LeCroy digitizing oscilloscopes; two CCD cameras with PC-based image acquisition and processing hardware and software; a high temperature furnace (16000C) with sapphire windows for optical access; a 600mW fibre coupled laser diode; numerous optical components; and seven vibration isolation tables. Facilities for microwave NDE are also available and include both microwave reflectometry and microwave interferometry capabilities at 10 GHz and 60 GHz.
Optical Systems Unique to our group
- White Cell Optical Delay Line
- Laser Ultrasonic C-Scan System
- 10 Cavity Nd: YAG Array for Narrow-Band and Phased Array Ultrasound Generation
- Microwave near-field microscope
- Apetureless near-field optical microscope
- High temperature laser ultrasonic heat-treatment monitor system
