Patent ID: 8113056

Claim:
A method of ultrasonic testing a target object made of composite materials using a high energy generation laser beam, the method comprising: providing a CO 2 laser beam having an energy of from about 1 Joule to about 4.5 Joule and a fundamental wavelength of from about 9 microns to about 11 microns; directing the fundamental wavelength of the CO 2 laser beam to a harmonic generator formed of crystals; producing a selected harmonic wavelength of the fundamental wavelength of the CO 2 laser beam using the harmonic generator, the selected harmonic wavelength having an energy in a range of at least about 50 milli-Joules and a wavelength of from about 3 microns to about 4 microns; directing pulses of the selected harmonic wavelength of the CO 2 laser beam to the target object, the pulses being at a pulsed frequency in the range from about 100 Hz to 1000 Hz; thermo-elastically exciting a surface of the target object to produce ultrasonic displacements on the target object; and measuring the ultrasonic displacements.