NONDESTRUCTIVE ANALYSIS OF MATERIALS AND DEVICES BY MEANS OF SCANNINGACOUSTIC MICROSCOPY

The position of scanning acoustic microscopy (SCAM) in the context of destructive versus non-destructive analytical techniques is discussed. The principle of SCAM is touched briefly to a level which will allow an understanding of the various examples of application presented in t his article. Examples of SCAM applications will be reported (a) on dif ferent types of non-destructive analysis such as: detection of delamin ations, voids and microcracks, grain structures, geometrical multilaye r composition, strain detection and surface roughness and (b) samples from different fields of material science and technology: IC technolog y, metals, plastics and advanced materials (glass fibre reinforced com posites). The message of this contribution is to focus attention on SC AM as a non-destructive, fast technique which can be used with success in selected cases, where additional information about the sample is p resent. However, theory of SCAM and hence interpretation of SCAM image s is not straightforward and needs expert knowledge.