High power optical fibre delivery system for the laser generation of ultrasound

A plastic-clad optical fibre system has been examined as a delivery system of pulsed laser energy for the generation of ultrasound. The onset of significant optical damage caused by the laser has been investigated. By using multimode fibres of approximately 1 m length with 600 micron core size, it was found that laser power densities from the fibre were sufficient to produce ultrasonic waveforms corresponding to both the thermoelastic and plasma generation regimes. Out-of-plane acoustic displacements of greater than 250 pm can be achieved through 2.5 cm thick aluminium test samples, showing that fibre optical delivery systems may be considered in systems using laser-generated ultrasound for non-destructive testing applications.