Microwave Detection of Laser Ultrasonic for Non-Destructive Testing

In this proposal, we describe a program to demonstrate the technical feasibility of a high-performance, cost-effective and robust microwave receiver for the detection of laser-generated ultrasound for NDE. Our innovative receiver is based on the integration of a microwave interferometer coupled with a pulsed laser to generate the ultrasound. By using a microwave interferometer design we will be able to overcome the limitation generally associated with classical optical receiver: 1) Inability to work in harsh environment where thermal and mechanical perturbations are present; 2) Reduction in sensitivity caused by the speckle nature of the light reflected from rough surfaces; 3) High system cost due the price of the different lasers, optics and engineering to develop an optical system working in a harsh environment and 4) high maintenance cost (Lasers and optics need to be checked, maintained and re-aligned frequently).