Making waves: A contactless way to detect damage in transparent materials

Existing methods to detect microscopic scratches and imperfections on transparent materials are costly and time-consuming. To tackle this problem, researchers developed a novel non-contact, non-destructive approach leveraging laser-induced plasma shockwaves and mechanical vibrations detectable by a high-speed polarization camera. Their strategy could pave the way to convenient and inexpensive quality control schemes for mass-production of high-quality transparent surfaces, with applications in smartphones, tablets, and solar panels.

Source: ScienceDaily.com