A hand-held laser-generator of ultrasonic pulses

A hand-held laser generator of ultrasonics has been developed based on some components from a laser rangefinding device. Operating at a wavelength of 1.06 microns, the laser has provided optical pulses on a single shot basis with energies of 3-10mJ in 10ns. The output was sufficient for use in NDT as a generator of elastic pulses in materials, thereby offering a noncontacting means of ultrasonic generation. In the case of metals, such elastic pulses propagated both along the surface and into the bulk of the sample. These ultrasonic pulses were detected by a number of different types of transducer and can therefore be used during 'on-site' calibration procedures.