Patent ID: 8822875
Filing Date: 2014-09-02
Classification: A61B,B22F,B23K,B29C,B33Y,C21D,C22F,G01B,G01J,G01N,Y02P

Abstract:
1. An apparatus that generates a record of a material modification process, the apparatus comprising: a material processing beam source that produces a material processing beam that is applied to a sample location in the material modification process, wherein the material modification process is a welding process; an imaging optical source that produces imaging light; an optical interferometer that produces an interferometry output using at least a component of the imaging light that is delivered into a phase change region created in the material during the welding process, the interferometry output based on at least one optical path length to at least one point in the phase change region compared to another optical path length; a detector that receives the interferometry output and produces a detector output that is indicative of a characteristic of the phase change region during the welding process; and a record generator that generates at least one record based on the detector output at a plurality of times.