Low-Temperature Scanning Acoustic Microscopy in Range of 85–225K

Abstract

Although acoustic microscopy is well-known to be an effective nondestructive control of local elastic and structural properties in the bulk of both opaque and transparent materials, the applicability of commercial scanning acoustic microscopes (SAM) is limited to temperatures near ambient, because SAM calls for the use of on immersion liquid. On the other hand, since the discovery of high-Tc superconductivity, there is a rapidly growing interest in non-destructive lowtemperature examination of ceramics, crystals and devices made out of these materials. It is interesting to investigate other materials also in low-temperature region.