MAGNETOACOUSTIC STORAGE CORRELATOR AS A PULSE COMPRESSOR IN ULTRASONIC NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING APPLICATIONS

A simple magnetoacoustic storage correlator was utilized as a pulse co mpressor in an ultrasonic nondestructive testing application. The puls e compression ratio reached was 30, which the theoretical maximum obta inable with our experimental parameters, Much higher compression ratio s are readily available through choice of different device lengths, Th e system offers good flexibility; it is not limited to any particular type of large time-bandwidth signal, The correlator reference signal i s easily programmable and erasable, and can be changed at any time. Un like digital pulse compressors, this system offers real time correlati on signal processing at a repetition rate that is only limited by the temporal length of the large time-bandwidth signal.