WikiPatents - Community Patent Review
Create Free Account  |  License or Sell Your Patent  |  WikiPatents Marketplace  |  WikiPatents Blog
Username:  Password:  
    
Advanced Search
Method and apparatus for detecting photoacoustic signal    
United States Patent5479259   
Link to this pagehttp://www.wikipatents.com/5479259.html
Inventor(s)Nakata; Toshihiko (Hiratsuka, JP); Ninomiya; Takanori (Hiratsuka, JP); Kobayashi; Hilario H. (Yokohama, JP)
AbstractA method and an apparatus for detecting a photoacoustic signal are provided which irradiate an excitation light beam, modulated by a desired frequency, simultaneously to a plurality of points being measured on a surface of a sample, irradiate the excitation light and a probe light simultaneously to the plurality of the points being measured, detect an interference light of a reflected light beam of the probe light and a specified reference light with a detector made up of a plurality of photoelectric converting elements corresponding to the respective points being measured, the detector being in conjugate relation with the surface of the sample, detect a thermal distortion of the frequency component equal to the intensity-modulated frequency at the plurality of the points being measured from the interference light intensity signal detected by the detector, and detect information relative to the surface and the subsurface of the measuring points on the sample from the thermal distortion of the frequency component.
   














 Title Information Submit all comments and votes
 
Patent Text Patent PDF Print Page Summary File History
Plain text PDF images Print Summary File History
Drawing from US Patent 5479259
Method and apparatus for detecting photoacoustic signal - US Patent 5479259 Drawing
Method and apparatus for detecting photoacoustic signal
Inventor     Nakata; Toshihiko (Hiratsuka, JP); Ninomiya; Takanori (Hiratsuka, JP); Kobayashi; Hilario H. (Yokohama, JP)
Owner/Assignee     Hitachi, Ltd. (Tokyo, JP)
Patent assignment
All assignments
Publication Date     December 26, 1995
Application Number     07/994,150
PAIR File History     Application Data   Transaction History
Image File Wrapper   Patent Term   Fees
Litigation
Filing Date     December 21, 1992
US Classification     356/487 356/432 356/502
Int'l Classification     G01B 009/02
Examiner     Turner; Samuel A.
Assistant Examiner    
Attorney/Law Firm     Fay, Sharpe, Beall, Fagan, Minnich & McKee
Address
Parent Case     CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 07/886,014, filed on May 20, 1992, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,006 the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Priority Data     Dec 24, 1991[JP]3-340646 Dec 24, 1991[JP]3-340647 Mar 17, 1992[JP]4-060130
USPTO Field of Search     356/349 356/359 356/360 356/345 356/35.5 356/432 T 356/237 356/357
Patent Tags     detecting photoacoustic signal
   
Enter a comma (,) or semicolon (;) between multiple tag words/phrases.
Describe this patent:
 Amusing   
 Clever   
 Complex   
 Efficient   
 Historic   
 Important   
 Innovative   
 Interesting   
 Practical   
 Simple   
[no votes]
Patent WIKI

Share information and news about this patent, including information and news about the technology, inventors, company, ligation and licensing.

 References Submit all comments and votes
 
*references marked with an asterisk below are user-added references
 U.S. References
 
Add a new US reference:  
ReferenceRelevancyCommentsReferenceRelevancyComments
5136172
Nakata
250/559.39
Aug,1992

[0 after 0 votes]
5083869
Nakata

Jan,1992

[0 after 0 votes]
5062715
Nakata

Nov,1991

[0 after 0 votes]
4854710
Opsal
356/432
Aug,1989

[0 after 0 votes]
4732483
Biegen
356/495
Mar,1988

[0 after 0 votes]
4636088
Rosencwaig
374/5
Dec,1969

[0 after 0 votes]
 Foreign References
 Other References
 Market Review Submit all comments and votes
   
Market Size
Estimate the gross annual revenues of the relevant market sector:
> $10B
$5B - $10B
$2B - $5B
$500M - $2B
$100M - $500M
$10M - $100M
$1M - $10M
$500K - $1M
$100K - $500K
< $100K
[No votes]
$0
 
$0   $2.5B   $5B   $7.5B   $10B
Market Share
Estimate the percentage of the relevant market sector this invention will capture:
75% - 100%
50% - 74.99%
25% - 49.99%
10 - 24.99%
5 - 9.99%
2 - 4.99%
1 - 1.99%
< 1%
[No votes]
0.0%
 
0%   25%   50%   75%   100%
Reasonable Royalty
What percentage of gross sales should the inventor or assignee be paid?
75% - 100%
50% - 74.99%
25% - 49.99%
10 - 24.99%
5 - 9.99%
2 - 4.99%
1 - 1.99%
< 1%
[No votes]
0.0%
 
0%   25%   50%   75%   100%
Public's "Guesstimation" of Royalty Value
Market SizeN/A[No votes]
xMarket ShareN/A[No votes]
xReasonable RoyaltyN/A[No votes]

N/A

License Availablity
If you are NOT the owner or assignee, answer here:
Yes, license is available for purchase

No, license is not currently available



[No votes]
License Availablity
If you ARE the owner or assignee, answer here:
Yes, license is available for purchase

No, license is not currently available



[No votes]
Competitive Advantage
Does this invention have a significant competitive advantage over similar technologies?
Yes

No



[No votes]
Most helpful competitive advantage comment
[No comments]

Commercial Alternatives
Are there viable commercial alternatives for this invention?
Yes

No



[No votes]
Most helpful commercial alternative comment
[No comments]

 Technical Review Submit all comments and votes
 Claims Submit all comments and votes
 


What is claimed is:

1. A photoacoustic signal detection method comprising:

irradiating an excitation light focused by a focusing optical system in a state of at least one dimensional linear shape simultaneously, intensity modulated by a desired frequency, to an at least one dimensional linear shape portion being measured on the surface of a sample simultaneously;

irradiating a one dimensional shape probe light to said one dimensional linear shape portion being measured on the surface of the sample simultaneously;

detecting a plurality of heterodyne interference light simultaneously by a reflected light of said one dimensional probe light and a specified one dimensional shape reference light with a detector in conjugate relation with said surface of said sample, said detector provided with a plurality of photoelectric converting elements in the state of the at least one dimensional linear shape corresponding to said one dimensional linear shape portion being measured;

detecting at least one dimensional thermal distortions obtained by each of a plurality of frequency components equal to said intensity-modulated frequency at each of a plurality of points along said one dimensional shape portion being measured in accordance with variation with time on each of said plurality of heterodyne interference light comprising intensity signals detected by said each of photoelectric converting elements of said detector; and

detecting information relative to a one dimensional cross-sectional surface being measured of the sample from a one dimensional thermal distortion obtained by each of the plurality of said frequency components at each of the plurality of points along said one dimensional shape portion.

2. The photoacoustic signal detection method according to claim 1, wherein the intensity-modulated excitation light irradiated to said at least one dimensional linear shape portion being measured is a beam in a continuous, linear shape on said sample.

3. The photoacoustic signal detection method according to claim 1, wherein the intensity-modulated excitation light irradiated to said at least one dimensional linear shape portion being measured is a row of spot beams arranged in a linear line shape on said sample.

4. The photoacoustic signal detection method according to claim 3, wherein intervals of spot beams in the row are arranged so that heat diffusion regions caused by the respective spot beams do not overlap each other.

5. The photoacoustic signal detection method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of dividing said probe light into two light beams;

irradiating one of said divided beams of the probe light to the same position as said excitation light;

irradiating the other of said divided beams of the probe light as a reference light to a vicinity of the irradiated position by said excitation light; and

detecting an interference light of two reflected beams of said one of the divided probe light and said reference light with said detector.

6. The photoacoustic signal detection method according to claim 5, wherein the irradiated position by said excitation light and the irradiated position by said reference light are spaced at least more than the heat diffusion length caused by said excitation light.

7. The photoacoustic signal detection method according to claim 1, wherein said interference light intensity signals are changed or integrated for a specified time by said detector before detection.

8. The photoacoustic signal detection method according to claim 1, wherein the interference light intensity signal from said detector are output as a one-dimensional signal in a time series from said plurality of photoelectric converting elements.

9. The photoacoustic signal detection method according to claim 1, wherein the interference light intensity signals from said detector are output in a parallel form from said plurality of photoelectric converting elements.

10. The photoacoustic signal detection method according to claim 7, wherein said heterodyne interference light is stored at least one time at an interval of .alpha./f.sub.B (where .alpha.=(2S+4P+1)/8, 1/f.sub.B =1/f.sub.L .multidot.(2S-4P+1)/(2S+4P+1)), at each of the photoelectric converting elements of said detector, and detecting said thermal distortion based on the at least one stored signal data outputted at each storing.

11. The photoacoustic signal detection method according to claim 9, wherein said thermal distortion is detected in a parallel form from said interference light intensity signal output in a parallel form from said plurality of photoelectric converting elements.

12. The photoacoustic signal detection method according to claim 1, wherein said intensity-modulated frequency is set so that the heat diffusion length due to the photoacoustic effect is at least substantially equal to the depth of an interface being measured in said sample.

13. A photoacoustic detection apparatus comprising:

excitation means for irradiating an intensity-modulated excitation light in a state of at least a one dimensional linear shape to an at least one dimensional linear shape portion being measured on a sample surface, said excitation means including a light source and intensity modulation means for generating said excitation light by intensity-modulating a light beam from said light source by a desired frequency;

light interference means for causing interference between a probe light and a reflected light of a specified reference light by irradiating a specified one dimensional shape probe light, simultaneously with said excitation light, to said at least one dimensional linear shape portion being measured;

interference light detection means for detecting said interference with a detector in conjugate relation with said sample surface, said detector comprising a plurality of photoelectric converting elements corresponding to said one dimensional linear shape portion being measured; and

information detection means for detecting thermal distortion of a frequency component equal to said intensity-modulated frequency at said one dimensional linear shape portion being measured from a detected interference light intensity signal in order to detect information relative to the surface and the subsurface of said one dimensional linear shape portion being measured on the sample from detected thermal distortion of the frequency component.

14. The photoacoustic detection apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said excitation means has a cylindrical lens installed along the irradiation path of said excitation light.

15. The photoacoustic detection apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said excitation means includes a minute lens array comprising minute lenses arranged in a straight line along an irradiation path of said excitation light.

16. The photoacoustic detection apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said minute lens array is arranged so that spot beams in a row formed on said sample surface by said minute lens array are located at such intervals that heat diffusion regions by the respective spot beams do not overlap each other.

17. The photoacoustic detection apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said detector of said interference light detection means is formed by a storage type photoelectric converting element.

18. The photoacoustic detection apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said detector of said interference light detection means is formed by a non-storage type photoelectric converting element.

19. The photoacoustic detection apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said light interference means has means for dividing said probe light, wherein one of the divided probe light beams is irradiated to said at least one dimensional linear shape portion being measured, an other of the divided probe light beams is irradiated as a reference light to the vicinity of said at least one dimensional linear shape portion being measured, and said interference light detection means detects an interference light caused by said reflected light of said two divided probe beams.

20. The photoacoustic detection apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said light interference means is so structured that a space between said two divided probe beams on said sample surface is at least a heat diffusion length by said excitation light.

21. The photoacoustic detection apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said interference light is stored at least one time at an interval of .alpha./f.sub.B (where .alpha.=(2S+4P+1)/8, 1/f.sub.B =1/f.sub.L .multidot.(2S-4P+1)/(2S+4P+1)), at each of the photoelectric converting elements of said detector, and detecting said thermal distortion based on the at least one stored signal data outputted at each storing.
 Description Submit all comments and votes
 


BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for detecting a photoacoustic signal to detect information relative to the surface and the subsurface of a sample using photoacoustic or photothermal effect, and more particularly to a method and an apparatus for detecting a photoacoustic signal, devised to effectively correct abnormality of phase shifts by phase jumps at specified points of the sample when a photoacoustic signal is detected at those points of the sample.

The photoacoustic effect was discovered by Tyndall, Bell, Roentgen, et al. in 1881. As shown in FIG. 2, when intensity-modulated light (intermittent light beam) 19 is irradiated to a sample 7 by focusing the light as an excitation light with a lens 5, heat is generated in a light absorption region V.sub.OP 21, and periodically diffused through a thermal diffusion region V.sub.th 23 defined by a thermal diffusion length .mu..sub.S 22 so that the resulting thermal distortion wave gives rise to a thermoelastic wave (ultrasonic wave). By detecting this ultrasonic wave, i.e. a photoacoustic wave by a microphone (acousto-electric converter) or by a piezo-electric or a light interferometer to thereby obtain a signal component synchronized with the modulated frequency of the excitation light, information relative to the surface and subsurface of the sample can be obtained. Incidentally, the thermal diffusion length .mu..sub.S 22 can be obtained by the following expression (1) from the thermal conductivity k, density .rho., and specific heat c of the sample 7 when the modulated frequency of the excitation light is denoted by f.sub.L. ##EQU1##

A technique for detecting the above photoacoustic signal is disclosed, for example, in "HIHAKAI KENSA", Vol. 36, No. 10 issue, pp. 730-736 October 1987 (Showa 62) or IEEE 1986 ULTRASONIC SYMPOSIUM pp. 515-526 (1986).

Referring to FIG. 1, one example of such a technique will be explained. A parallel light beam emitted from a laser 1 is intensity-modulated by an acousto-optical modulator (A0 modulator) 2. The thus obtained intermittent light is expanded to a parallel beam of a desired diameter by a beam expander 3, which is reflected by a half mirror 4, and then focused by a lens 5 on the surface of the sample 7 placed on an X-Y stage 6. The thermal distortion wave emanating from the focusing position 21 on the sample 7 generates a thermoelastic wave, thus causing minute displacements at the surface of the sample. The minute displacements will be detected by a Michelson interferometer explained below. After the parallel light beam from the laser 8 is expanded to a desired beam diameter by the beam expander 9, the beam is separated into two beams traveling along two optical paths by a beam splitter or a half mirror 10. One is focused at the focusing position 21 on the sample by the lens 5, while the other is irradiated to a reference mirror 11. Then, the light reflected from the sample 7 and the light reflected from the reference mirror 11 interfere with each other at the half mirror 10. The interference light is focused by a lens 12 on a photoelectric converting element 13 such as a photodiode by a lens 12 to provide a photoelectric-converted interference intensity signal. After amplified by a preamplifier 14, the interference intensity signal is sent to a lock-in amplifier 16. Using a modulation frequency signal from an oscillator 15 used to drive the acousto-optical modulator 2 as a reference signal, the lock-in amplifier 16 extracts only the modulated frequency component contained in the interference intensity signal. This frequency component has information relative to the surface or the inside of the sample 7. According to the expression (1), by varying the modulated frequency, the thermal diffusion length .mu..sub.S 21 can be changed and information as to the condition through the depth of the sample can be obtained. If there is a defect such as a crack in the thermal diffusion region V.sub.th 23, the amplitude of the modulated frequency component in the interference light intensity signal and the phase thereof relative to the modulation frequency signal change, by which the presence of the defect can be known. An X-Y stage shifting signal and an output signal from the lock-in amplifier 16 are processed by a computer 17. Accordingly, the photoacoustic signal corresponding to the respective points on the sample can be gathered and displayed as a two-dimensional image on a display 18 such as a monitor television.

Though the above-mentioned prior-art technique is extremely effective means for detecting a photoacoustic signal in non-contact and non-destructive inspection of samples, but has the following problems.

In the conventional photoacoustic detection optical system as shown in FIG. 1, when a two-dimensional internal information of a sample is to be obtained, it is necessary to perform a two-dimensional scanning of the surface of a sample by a relative motion of two beams, that is, an excitation light for generating a photoacoustic effect and a probe light for detecting minute displacements of the sample surface caused by the photoacoustic effect. This two-dimensional scanning is the so-called point scanning by which information is obtained point by point, and therefore, if one tries to scan the whole surface of the sample, a very large amount of detection time is required. This necessity for a large amount of detection time is the greatest reason why the photoacoustic detection technique has not been applied to internal defect inspection of samples in the production line. In some samples, the reflectance of the surface varies with different positions of the sample. In such a case, with the prior-art technique, the intensity of the reflected light of the probe light unavoidably contains information relative to the surface reflectance in addition to information about the internal condition, so that it is difficult to accurately detect only information about the inside of the sample. Furthermore, in some samples, the surface is not flat and has local undulations. In this case, in the prior-art technique, the phase of the reflected beam of the probe light varies according to the undulations of the sample surface, so that the reflected light intensity includes information with regard to the surface undulations in addition to internal information and, as a result, it is difficult to accurately detect only internal information about the internal condition.

Moreover, in the conventional photoacoustic signal detection method, there is no way to cope with the phenomenon called "phase jump". Suppose a case in which a photoacoustic signal is detected from a sample 200 having a crack 109 in the surface, as shown in FIG. 3A, for example. FIG. 3B shows a longitudinal sectional view taken along the line A--A' in FIG. 3A, while FIG. 4A shows a phase shift image (hereafter referred to as the phase image) of two-dimensional photoacoustic images of the sample 200. In the phase image, the thin white region corresponds to the crack 109, and in this region, there are several dark areas where the phase shift occurs sharply. FIG. 4B shows a phase shift signal 111 in a section taken along the line B--B' in FIG. 4A. As is apparent from this figure, there is a sharp phase jump in the dark areas, and in those areas, the phase signal 111 shows a sharp drop and rebound.

Generally, out of various photoacoustic signals, the phase signal has a characteristic that when the phase signal exceeds +.pi., the phase changes -2.pi. relative to the phase value, and similarly, when the phase signal exceeds -.pi., the phase changes 2.pi. relative to the phase value. In this patent application, those changes are defined as the so-called "phase jump". This phase jump phenomenon occurs in the extraction of phase shift from the photoacoustic signal. More specifically, in the lock-in amplifier 16 in FIG. 1 the photoacoustic signal (interference intensity signal) is separated into a cosine component X and a sine component Y as shown by the expressions (1) and (2). The amplitude A and the phase .theta. of the photoacoustic signal can be obtained by the expressions (3) and (4). ##EQU2##

As shown in the expression (4), the phase shift .theta. can be obtained as an arctangent of a rate of the sine component Y to the cosine component X. As is well known, the principal value of the arctangent in this case exists in the range of +.pi. to -.pi.. Therefore, for example, when the phase shift .theta. has a value (.pi.+.beta.), which exceeds +.pi., the value output from the lock-in amplifier is -.pi.+.beta., that is, .pi.+.beta. added with -2.pi.. Likewise, when the phase shift has a value (-.pi.-.beta.) less than -.pi., the output value is .pi.-.beta., that is, -.pi.-.beta. added with +2.pi.. In this way, a phase jump occurs. Therefore, when a phase jump has occurred at a sampling point, the real situation is that the phase shift at this sampling point does not contain a correct phase shift information, and for this reason, information relative to the surface and the inside of the sample cannot be obtained securely.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus, in a simple arrangement, for detecting a photoacoustic signal, which are less susceptible to effects of the reflectance distribution and the undulations distribution and which enable high-speed detection of two-dimensional internal information of a sample.

In order to achieve the above object, in accordance with the present invention, an intensity-modulated light is irradiated to a plurality of points being measured on a surface of a sample to generate a photoacoustic effect or a photothermal effect either on the surface or the inside of the plurality of points being measured, and at the same time, a light beam is irradiated to a plurality of points being measured, the reflected light and a reference light are made to interfere with each other, the resulting interference light is detected by a detector in a conjugate relation with the surface of the sample, said detector comprising a plurality of photoelectric converting elements corresponding to the respective points being measured, and from the detected interference light intensity signal, thermal distortion of the frequency component equal to the above-mentioned intensity-modulated frequency at the plurality of points being measured is detected. This method enables almost simultaneous extraction of information relative to the surface and the inside of a plurality of points being measured of a sample, and also enables detection of a photoacoustic signal at far higher speed than in the prior-art detection method.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, the intensity-modulated light irradiated to the sample is formed as a continuous and straight beam on the sample, and a plurality of points being measured on the sample can be excited simultaneously, so that a photoacoustic signal can be detected at far higher speed than in the prior-art technique.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, the intensity-modulated light, irradiated to the sample, is formed in a straight row of spot beams arranged on the sample, a plurality of points being measured on the sample can be excited simultaneously, so that a photoacoustic signal can be detected at far higher speed than in the prior-art technique.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, the above-mentioned spot beams in a row are arranged at such intervals that thermal diffusion regions by the spot beams do not overlap one another, thus improving the detection resolution of a photoacoustic image.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, by using a detector comprising a plurality of storage type photoelectric converting elements for detecting an interference light, a photoacoustic signal can be detected at far higher speed than in the prior-art method.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, by using a detector comprising a plurality of non-storage type photoelectric converting elements for detecting an interference light, a photoacoustic signal can be detected at far higher speed than in the prior-art method.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, by using a detector which outputs an interference light intensity signal from a plurality of photoelectric converting elements as a one-dimensional signal in time sequence, a photoacoustic signal can be detected at far higher speed than in the prior-art method.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, by using a detector which does parallel and simultaneous output of an interference light intensity signal from a plurality of photoelectric converting elements, a photoacoustic signal can be detected at far higher speed than in the prior-art method.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, by using a detector comprising a plurality of storage type photoelectric converting elements to detect an interference light, the interference light intensity signal, which is stored in a desired storage time and output from each of the storage type photoelectric converting elements of the detector, is detected 2n n:arbitrary integer, >0 times by shifting the phase of the signal by .pi./n for each photoelectric converting element, and according to 2n pieces of signal data, the thermal distortion of the frequency component equal to the above-mentioned intensity-modulated frequency is calculated, and thereby use of a digital frequency filtering process is made possible instead of an analog frequency filtering process, so that detection of a photoacoustic signal can be performed with high sensitivity and high accuracy without being much affected by a high harmonic component. Furthermore, it is possible with only one detector to simultaneously detect a total of four items of information relative to the surface and the inside of the sample, namely, the reflectance distribution of the sample surface, the undulations distribution of the sample surface, the amplitude distribution of the photoacoustic signal, and the phase distribution of the photoacoustic signal, and thereby a high-speed complex characterization of a sample is made possible. Moreover, according to the present invention, it is possible to detect a photoacoustic signal in which corrections have been made to the reflectance distribution of the sample surface, the undulations distribution of the sample surface, and the optical path fluctuation, so that information relative to the surface and the inside of the sample can be detected with high sensitivity and stability.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, as a method for shifting the phase of the interference light intensity signal output from the detector, comprising the storage type photoelectric converting elements, by .pi./n for each photoelectric converting element, a method is used in which a combination of desired values is set for the difference in light frequency between the reflected light from the above-mentioned sample surface and the reference light, the above-mentioned intensity-modulated frequency, and the storage time of the above-mentioned storage type photoelectric converting elements, and therefore, by using only one detector, it is possible to simultaneously detect a total of four items of information as to the surface and the inside of the sample, including the sample surface reflectance distribution, the sample surface undulations distribution, the photoacoustic signal amplitude distribution, and the phase distribution of the photoacoustic signal, and thereby a high-speed complex characterization of a sample is made possible. Also, it is possible to implement photoacoustic signal detection in which corrections have been made to the reflectance distribution of the sample surface, the undulations distribution of the sample surface, and the optical path fluctuation, so that information relative to the surface and the inside of a sample can be detected with high sensitivity and stability.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, from the interference light intensity signal output in parallel form simultaneously from the detector, the thermal distortion of the frequency component equal to the above-mentioned intensity-modulated frequency is detected with a plurality of photoelectric converting elements in parallel simultaneously.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, detection of the information of an interface inside the sample is possible by setting the intensity-modulated frequency so that the thermal diffusion length owing to the photoacoustic effect or the photothermal effect is equal to or longer than the depth of the interface in the inside being measured of the above-mentioned sample.

In a photoacoustic signal detection apparatus, by irradiating an intensity-modulated light to a plurality of points being measured on the surface of a sample, a photoacoustic effect or a photothermal effect can be generated at a plurality of points being measured, and at the same time, by irradiating the light to the plurality of points being measured and causing a reflected light from the points being measured and a reference light to interfere with each other, the resulting interference light is detected by a detector, which is in a conjugate relation with the sample surface, the detector comprising a plurality of photoelectric converting elements corresponding to the points being measured, and from the interference light intensity signal detected, the thermal distortion of a frequency component equal to the above-mentioned intensity-modulated frequency at the plurality of points being measured, and thereby information relative to the surface and the inside at the plurality of points being measured of the sample can be extracted substantially simultaneously as a photoacoustic signal, so that detection of a photoacoustic signal can be performed at far higher speed than in the prior-art method.

Further, since the intensity-modulated light is irradiated to the sample in a continuous, straight beam on the sample, the plurality of points being measured on the sample can be excited simultaneously, and detection of a photoacoustic signal can be performed at far higher speed than in the prior-art method.

Further, since the intensity-modulated light is irradiated to the sample in a row of spot beams arranged in a straight line on the sample, the plurality of points being measured on the sample can be excited simultaneously, and detection of a photoacoustic signal can be performed at far higher speed than in the prior-art method.

Further, since the spot beams in a row are arranged at such intervals that the thermal diffusion regions do not overlap each other, the photoacoustic signal can be detected independently from the respective points being measured, thereby improving the detection resolution of a photoacoustic image.

Further, a detector comprising a plurality of storage type photoelectric converting elements is used to detect an interference light, and therefore, the photoacoustic signal at the plurality of points being measured can be extracted substantially simultaneously, which enables detection of a photoacoustic signal at far higher speed than in the prior-art method.

Further, a detector comprising a plurality of non-storage type photoelectric converting elements are used to detect an interference light, and therefore, the photoacoustic signal at the plurality of points being measured is extracted substantially simultaneously, which enables detection of a photoacoustic signal at far higher speed than in the prior-art method.

Further, a detector is used which outputs an interference light intensity signal from a plurality of photoelectric converting elements as a one-dimensional signal in time sequence, and therefore, the photoacoustic signal at the plurality of points being measured can be extracted substantially simultaneously, which enables detection of a photoacoustic signal be performed at far higher speed than in the prior-art method.

Further, a detector is used which outputs an interference light intensity signal from a plurality of photoelectric converting elements in parallel simultaneously, and therefore, the photoacoustic signal at the plurality of points being measured can be extracted substantially simultaneously, which enables detection of a photoacoustic signal at far higher speed than in the prior-art method.

Further, since a detector comprising a plurality of storage type photoelectric converting elements is used to detect an interference light, the interference light intensity signal, which is stored in a desired storage time and output from each of the storage type photoelectric converting elements of the detector, is detected 2n times by shifting the phase of the signal by .pi./n for each photoelectric converting element, and according to 2n pieces of signal data, the thermal distortion of the frequency component equal to the above-mentioned intensity-modulated frequency is calculated, and thereby use of a digital frequency filtering process is made possible instead of an analog frequency filtering process, so that detection of a photoacoustic signal can be performed with high sensitivity and high accuracy without being much affected by a high harmonic component. Furthermore, it is possible with only one detector to simultaneously detect a total of four items of information relative to the surface and the inside of the sample, namely, the reflectance distribution of the sample surface, the undulations distribution of the sample surface, the amplitude distribution of the photoacoustic signal, and the phase distribution of the photoacoustic signal, and thereby a high-speed complex assessment of a sample is made possible. Moreover, it is possible to detect a photoacoustic signal in which corrections have been made on the reflectance distribution of the sample surface, the undulations distribution of the sample surface, and the optical path fluctuation. Also, information relative to the surface and the inside of the sample can be detected with high sensitivity and stability.

As a method for shifting the phase of the interference light intensity signal output from the detector comprising the storage type photoelectric converting elements by .pi./n for each photoelectric converting element, a method is used in which a combination of desired values is set for the difference in light frequency between the reflected light from the above-mentioned sample surface and the reference light, the above-mentioned intensity-modulated frequency, and the storage time of the above-mentioned storage type photoelectric converting elements, and therefore, by using only one detector, it is possible to simultaneously detect a total of four items of information relative to the surface and the inside of the sample, which includes the sample surface reflectance distribution, the sample surface undulations distribution, the photoacoustic signal amplitude distribution, and the phase distribution of the photoacoustic signal, and thereby a high-speed complex characterization of a sample is made possible. Also, it is possible to implement photoacoustic signal detection in which corrections have been made on the reflectance distribution of the sample surface, the undulations distribution of the sample surface, and the optical path fluctuation, so that information relative to the surface and the inside of a sample can be detected with high sensitivity and stability.

Further, from the interference light intensity signal output in parallel form simultaneously from the detector, the thermal distortion of the frequency component equal to the above-mentioned intensity-modulated frequency is detected with a plurality of photoelectric converting elements in parallel simultaneously.

Further, the information of an interface inside the sample can be detected by setting the intensity-modulated frequency so that the thermal diffusion length owing to the photoacoustic effect or the photothermal effect is equal to or longer than the depth of the interface in the inside being measured of the above-mentioned sample.

Further, another object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for detecting a photoacoustic signal, which enables information relative to the surface and the inside of a sample to be detected more stably and with higher accuracy by effectively correcting a phase jump in a phase shift when the phase shift is extracted from the photoacoustic signal.

The above object can be achieved by intensity-modulating a light beam from a light source by a desired frequency, scanning, focusing and irradiating the intensity-modulated light beam on a sample in two dimensions, generating a photoacoustic effect or a photothermal effect on the surface or the inside of the sample to cause a thermal distortion at the sample surface, detecting the thermal distortion at each sampling point, detecting the amplitude of the frequency component synchronized with the above-mentioned intensity-modulated frequency and a phase shift thereof relative to the above-mentioned intensity-modulated signal from the detected signal, detecting the presence or absence of a phase jump in the detected phase shift, correcting the abnormality of the phase shift signal caused by the phase jump when a phase jump is detected in the phase shift, and detecting information relative to the surface and the inside of the sample according to the amplitude and the corrected phase shift.

More specifically, the above object can be achieved by detecting whether a phase jump has occurred in the phase shift detected in each sampling point according to a change in the phase shift, and effectively correcting the abnormality of the phase shift caused by the phase jump at the sampling point where the phase jump has occurred by adding or subtracting 2.pi. to or from the phase shift value at the sampling point according to the change of the phase shift.

Meanwhile, the photoacoustic signal detection apparatus comprises scanning, focusing and irradiating means for intensity-modulating the light from a light source by a desired frequency, scanning, focusing and irradiating the intensity-modulated light on the sample in two dimensions, and causing a thermal distortion on the sample surface by generating a photoacoustic effect or a photothermal effect at the surface or the inside of the sample; thermal distortion detecting means for detecting the thermal distortion at the sampling point caused by the scanning, focusing and irradiating means; amplitude and phase shift detecting means for detecting the amplitude of the frequency component synchronized with the intensity-modulated frequency and a phase shift thereof relative to the intensity-modulated signal from the thermal distortion signal detected by the detecting means; phase jump detecting means for detecting whether a phase jump has occurred in the phase shift detected by the phase detecting means; and correcting means for correcting the abnormality caused by the phase jump when the phase jump is detected in the phase shift by the phase jump detecting means, wherein information relative to the surface and the inside of the sample is detected according to the amplitude detected by the amplitude and detecting means and the phase shift corrected by the correcting means.

More specifically, the above object can be achieved by arranging for the phase jump detecting and correcting means of the photoacoustic signal detection apparatus to effectively correct the abnormality in the phase shift caused by the phase jump at the sampling point by detecting whether a phase jump has occurred in the phase shift detected at each sampling point according to a change of the phase shift, and adding or subtracting 2.pi. to or from the phase shift value at the sampling point where the phase jump has occurred.

In other words, if the phase shift at some sampling point is recognized as a sharp drop or rise compared with the phase shift at a nearby sampling point under a certain condition, a decision is made that a phase jump occurred in the phase shift at that sampling point, the phase shift at the sampling point is corrected by adding 2.pi. or -2.pi. to the phase value at the sampling point. By applying this correction process to the phase shifts at the sampling points which include a phase jump, from the phase shifts at those sampling points, information as to the surface and the subsurface of the sample can be obtained with improved stability and higher accuracy.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a structural example of the conventional photoacoustic detection optical system;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the principle of a photoacoustic effect;

FIG. 3A is a plan view of a crack in the surface of a sample;

FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A--A' in FIG. 3A;

FIG. 4A is a two-dimensional photoacoustic image (phase image) of a sample having a surface crack;

FIG. 4B is a phase signal diagram taken along the line B--B' in FIG. 4A;

FIG. 5A is a structural diagram of the photoacoustic detection unit;

FIG. 5B is a diagram of a structural example of the processing unit in FIG. 5A;

FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C are diagrams showing modulating signals input to the acousto-optical modulator element;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are structural diagrams of the excitation optical system and the heterodyne interferometric optical system in a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a planar structure of a sample, an excitation beam and a probe beam in the first embodiment;

FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams showing the cross-sectional structures of the sample and the generated states of a photoacoustic effect by the excitation beam in a stripe form in the first embodiment;

FIGS. 10A and 10B are diagrams showing the polarization direction of the laser beam incident on the heterodyne interference optical system and the orthogonal-polarized beams of two frequencies;

FIGS. 11A and 11B are diagrams showing the incident state on the sample surface of a probe beam in a stripe form in the first embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the polarization directions of the reflected light from the sample, a reference light and a polarizing plate;

FIGS. 13A and 13B are structural diagrams of the detection unit of the heterodyne interferometric optical system in the first embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing data structure in a two-dimensional memory;

FIGS. 15A, 15B, and 15C are diagrams showing examples of detection of a photoacoustic signal in the first embodiment;

FIGS. 16A, 16B, and 16C are diagrams of examples of a photoacoustic signal showing the effects of phase correction in the first embodiment;

FIG. 17 is a diagram of the photoacoustic detection optical system in a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 18A and 18B are diagrams showing structural examples of the excitation optical system in the second embodiment;

FIG. 19 is a perspective view a planar structure of a sample, an excitation beam, a probe beam, and a reference beam in the second embodiment;

FIGS. 20A and 20B are diagrams showing cross-sectional structures of the sample and generated states of a photoacoustic effect by an excitation beam in a stripe form in the second embodiment;

FIGS. 21A and 21B are diagrams showing incident states on the sample surface of a probe beam and a reference beam both in a stripe form in the second embodiment;

FIG. 22 is a structural diagram of the heterodyne interferometric optical sys