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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8179535 | Remote sensing of underwater acoustic fields An acoustic field in a body of water is monitored using a coherent light field emitter applying a distributed light field across the surface of the water to be reflected, and a sensor is used to sense reflected components of the light field above the surface and to ... | 05/15/2012 |
| 8149421 | Optical homodyne interferometer Faults, dimensions and other characteristics of a material or structure are sensed by a coherent beam's reflection from the material when probed with ultrasonic waves or when vibrating at high frequencies. The reflected beam acquires a dynamic phase change substanti... | 04/03/2012 |
| 8134715 | Adjustable interferometer for laser ultrasonic measurement An interferometer includes a cavity including a pair of mirrors defining a cavity length. An input beam and a counter-propagating reference beam are directed into the cavity. The interferometer generates a feedback control signal and an ultrasound signal for optimal... | 03/13/2012 |
| 8115936 | Laser ultrasonic detection device including a laser oscillating device which includes a seed laser oscillating element A laser maintenance apparatus including a laser system which includes an optical system for emitting, in a first irradiation condition, a generation laser beam for generating an ultrasonic wave in a portion of an object on which maintenance is to be performed, and i... | 02/14/2012 |
| 8111403 | Method and device for non-contact oscillation measurements A method and a device for non-contact vibration measurement of an object. Method steps include: Moving at least one laser interferometer, which emits at least one measuring beam to at least one measuring point on the object, detecting the measuring beam reflected by... | 02/07/2012 |
| 8089632 | Systems and methods for detecting contaminants Systems and methods are provided for detecting contaminants associated with a target. In one embodiment, a system is provided that comprises a tunable laser configured to transmit an illuminator pulse at a target for a predetermined time duration and a laser Doppler... | 01/03/2012 |
| 8054470 | Method and apparatus for spectroscopic characterization of samples using a laser-ultrasound system A method of spectroscopic analysis of a material using a laser ultrasound system. The method includes measuring amplitude displacement of a target surface that has been excited with a generation laser. The amplitude displacements relate to the target's optical absor... | 11/08/2011 |
| 8045177 | Apparatus and methods for measuring vibrations using spectrally-encoded endoscopy An apparatus and method according to an exemplary embodiment of to the present invention can provide imaging information associated with at least one portion of a sample. For example, at least two first different wavelengths of at least one first electro-magnetic ra... | 10/25/2011 |
| 8004689 | Method of assessing bond integrity in bonded structures A technique for acoustic detection of a disbond within a bonded structure involves thermal excitation of the surface of the bonded structure to induce a lifting and membrane vibration and is applicable to laminates and coated structures, as well as foam core structu... | 08/23/2011 |
| 7978341 | Multi-channel laser interferometric method and apparatus for detection of ultrasonic motion from a surface A multi-channel laser interferometric method and apparatus are provided for optically measuring transient motion from a surface (17). A laser beam (11) is generated and then divided into first and second beams having respective intensities representing... | 07/12/2011 |
| 7957006 | System and method for optical sensing of surface motions There is provided an optical perturbation sensing system, including a probing beam incident on a medium, a sensing beam redirected from the medium and incident on a surface area of a photodetector, an array of photodetector elements, and a constructive combiner for ... | 06/07/2011 |
| 7916307 | Pre-amplifier for detection lasers within laser ultrasonic inspection systems A pulse detection laser is provided. The pulse detection laser includes a single frequency oscillator, a continuous pre-amplifier, and a pulsed amplifier. The single frequency oscillator generates a seed laser beam and is optically coupled to the continuous preampli... | 03/29/2011 |
| 7876453 | Laser ultrasonic multi-component imaging Techniques for ultrasonic determination of the interfacial relationship of multi-component systems are discussed. In implementations, a laser energy source may be used to excite a multi-component system including a first component and a second component at least in ... | 01/25/2011 |
| 7864338 | Interferometric method and apparatus for linear detection of motion from a surface An apparatus and a method for detecting surface motion of an object subject to ultrasound are disclosed. The method comprises generating a laser beam, dividing the laser beam into a reference beam and an object beam to be directed onto the surface, thereby producing... | 01/04/2011 |
| 7821646 | Method and apparatus for generating mid-IR laser beam for ultrasound inspection A method of ultrasonic testing comprising conditioning a radiation wave from a laser source by efficiently converting the radiation wave's wavelength to a mid-IR wavelength for enhanced ultrasonic testing of a composite. The method includes passing the radiation wav... | 10/26/2010 |
| 7821645 | Microstructural feature and material property monitoring device for metallic material A microstructural feature and material property monitoring device for a metallic material that can easily adjust relative position between an irradiation position of laser beams applied to the metallic material to propagate pulsed ultrasonic waves in the metallic ma... | 10/26/2010 |
| 7800762 | Fiber-based mid-infrared generation laser for laser ultrasound inspection Embodiments of the present invention relate to a laser system and method for the optical generation of ultrasound at a remote target. This involves generating a pump laser beam with a diode-pumped fiber laser. The diode pumped fiber laser is fiber-coupled with an op... | 09/21/2010 |
| 7760364 | Systems and methods for near-field heterodyne spectroscopy In a near-field heterodyne spectroscopy system, a near-field generation device receives the output of a pump beam source and is also made to vibrate or move at a frequency f to generate a modulated near-field beam having a near-field component. The outputs of the pu... | 07/20/2010 |
| 7738116 | Photoacoustic detector The invention relates to a photoacoustic detector, comprising at least a first chamber (V0) suppliable with a gas to be analyzed, a window for letting modulated and/or pulsed infrared radiation and/or light in the first chamber (V0), and means ... | 06/15/2010 |
| 7684047 | Apparatus and method for two wave mixing (TWM) based ultrasonic laser testing A system and method for detecting ultrasonic surface displacements at a remote target are disclosed, one embodiment of the system comprising: a first laser to generate a first laser beam. The first laser beam produces ultrasonic surface displacements on a surface of... | 03/23/2010 |
| 7667851 | Method and apparatus for using a two-wave mixing ultrasonic detection in rapid scanning applications The invention is directed to a wave characteristic adjusting device used to compensate for a wave characteristic distortion caused by the scanning motion of a probe beam of a two-wave mixing interferometer. The invention is also directed to an apparatus and method f... | 02/23/2010 |
| 7652773 | Enhanced detection of acousto-photonic emissions in optically turbid media using a photo-refractive crystal-based detection system A system and method of detecting acousto-photonic emissions in optically turbid media that provide increased levels of detection sensitivity. The detection system includes an ultrasonic transducer, a laser, a photo-detector for detecting ultrasound-modulated laser l... | 01/26/2010 |
| 7649632 | Characterization of micro- and nano scale materials by acoustic wave generation with a CW modulated laser Apparatus for analyzing thin surface layers. An acoustic wave generating laser beam is amplitude modulated with continuous wave modulation of a frequency in the megahertz to gigahertz range and an optical system directs the modulated radiation to a surface of a thin... | 01/19/2010 |
| 7612890 | System and method for controlling wafer temperature The invention is directed to a system and method for implementing process control for temperature of a semiconductor wafer using sonic NDE techniques. The system may, for example, generate ultrasound waves in a test object during the manufacturing process. A detecto... | 11/03/2009 |
| 7605924 | Laser-ultrasound inspection using infrared thermography An inspection system is provided to examine internal structures of a target material. This inspection system combines an ultrasonic inspection system and a thermographic inspection system. The thermographic inspection system is attached to ultrasonic inspection and ... | 10/20/2009 |
| 7564567 | Sensor for measuring a vibrating surface obscured from view Described are a sensor and a method for measuring a vibration of a surface obscured from view. The sensor includes a narrowband source of a terahertz beam, a beamsplitter, a beam combiner and a terahertz detector. The beamsplitter splits the terahertz beam into a sa... | 07/21/2009 |
| 7561281 | System and method for controlling tube thickness The invention is directed to a system and method for implementing process control for tubing thickness using sonic NDE techniques. The system may, for example, generate ultrasound waves in a test object during the manufacturing process. A detector such as an interfe... | 07/14/2009 |
| 7545509 | System and method for online control of paper elasticity and thickness The invention is directed to a system and method for implementing process control for paper elasticity and thickness using sonic NDE techniques. The system may, for example, generate ultrasound waves in a test object during the manufacturing process. A detector such... | 06/09/2009 |
| 7474411 | System and method to reduce laser noise for improved interferometric laser ultrasound detection The present invention provides an optical filter assembly that reduces the phase and amplitude noise of a detection laser used to detect ultrasonic displacements. The filtered detection laser is directed to the surface of a remote target. Ultrasonic displacements at... | 01/06/2009 |
| 7463364 | Electro-optic sensor A sensor comprises an optical modulator that generates a modulation signal, an interferometer that mixes an acoustic signal evoked by a pulsed laser with the modulation signal to down-convert the acoustic signal to lower frequencies, and a photodetector that detects... | 12/09/2008 |
| 7463363 | Method and apparatus for ultrasonic laser testing The present invention for detecting ultasonic displacements includes a detection laser to generate a first pulsed laser beam to generate the ultrasonic surface displacements on a surface of the target. A seocond pulsed laser beam to detect the ultrasonic surface dis... | 12/09/2008 |
| 7387027 | Characterization of materials with optically shaped acoustic waveforms A method for characterizing one or more properties of a sample using acoustic waveforms is disclosed, and comprises directing a sequence of at least three optical pulses to the sample to generate an acoustic response in the sample at a frequency corresponding to the... | 06/17/2008 |
| 7370538 | Method and apparatus for determining insulation thickness A method for determining the thickness of a layer of insulation comprises the steps of: contacting a top surface of a portion of the layer of insulation, compressing the portion of the layer of insulation until a predetermined compressive load is achieved, measuring... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7372771 | Electronic distance measuring apparatus A portable and convenient electronic distance measuring apparatus using a laser beam and a supersonic wave is provided. A predetermined height is measured using a supersonic sensor and a laser pointer is rotated at the predetermined height to radiate a laser beam at... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7369250 | System and method to inspect components having non-parallel surfaces The present invention provides a method to detect and generate ultrasonic displacements at a remote target for ultrasonic inspection. This method involves generating an ultrasonic wave at a first location on an upper surface of the remote target. This ultrasonic wav... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7365851 | Method of measuring a physical function using a composite function which includes the physical function and an arbitrary reference function A method for measuring a physical function forms a symmetric composite function by combining the physical function with a reference function. The method obtains a Fourier transform of the symmetric composite function. The method calculates an inverse Fourier transfo... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7362441 | Modulated reflectance measurement system using UV probe A modulated reflectance measurement system includes lasers for generating an intensity modulated pump beam and a UV probe beam. The pump and probe beams are focused on a measurement site within a sample. The pump beam periodically excites the measurement site and th... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7348563 | Tomography imaging apparatus A tomography imaging apparatus comprises: a light source that emits light having a low interferable performance; a light irradiation optical system constituted to split the light emitted from the light source into two, irradiate one of the split light to a subject a... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7342665 | System and method for control of paint thickness The invention is directed to a system and method for implementing process control for paint thickness using sonic NDE techniques. The system may, for example, generate ultrasound waves in a test object during the manufacturing process. A detector such as an interfer... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7327448 | Laser-ultrasonic detection of flip chip attachment defects Underfill voids and solder ball defects are detected via laser generation and laser detection of an ultrasonic wave at the top surface of flip chips. High resolution is provided by using small laser spot sizes and closely-spaced laser beams of wavelengths that are a... | 02/05/2008 |
