Precise Phase Measurements with the Acoustic Microscope

Abstmct-The measurement and the use of phase in acoustic microscopy are discussed. It is demonstrated that in many applications phase can be used to provide sensitivity and information unparalleled by amplitude-only measurement methods. A technique capable of highaccuracy measurement of the phase of short RF acoustic pulses is described. The power of this phase measurement technique is illustrated in a number of applications. Surface material property measurements such as the Rayleigh-wave velocity and the inversion of the complex V(z) to obtain the reflectance function of a liquid-solid interface are considered. Surface topography mapping based on phase measurement is examined. A Fourier transform approach for precision determination of linewidths comparable to the resolution spot size is also presented.