Patent ID: 7286241

Claim:
A system for measuring sonic energy in a test object, the system comprising: a sonic energy generator, the sonic energy generator operable to generate the sonic energy about the test object; a source of coherent electromagnetic energy, the source of coherent electromagnetic energy directing at least one pulse of electromagnetic energy at the test object, the source of coherent electromagnetic energy further comprising: a low amplification seed laser light source; and an amplification component, the low amplification seed laser light source transmitting at least one low amplification seed laser light signal to the amplification component, the amplification component further comprising: at least one amplification medium with time varying optical gain driven by a time varying signal, the low amplification seed laser light signal traversing the at least one amplification medium; and at least one pumping diode, the at least one amplification medium amplifying the low amplification laser light signal by stimulating emissions of a population inversion provided by the at least one pumping diode to generate an amplified laser light signal, wherein the amplified laser light signal varies with the time varying optical gain; and an interferometer, the interferometer collecting at least one scattered light signal produced by a scattering from the object of the at least one pulse of electromagnetic energy with sonic energy in the test object, wherein the interferometer outputs a signal representative of the sonic energy in the test object; and a processor operable to process the output of the interferometer to obtain information about an internal structure of the test object.