Method and assembly for non-destructively inspecting a surface structure

US12014485B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• siOPTICA GmbH · DE

Inventors

• Markus Klippstein · Jena, DE
• André Heber · Weimar, DE
• Eric Günl · Jena, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: May 4, 2022
• Grant date: Jun 18, 2024
• Expiry date: May 4, 2042

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G06T2207/30164
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A method for the nondestructive inspection of a surface structure, including: preparing the surface structure; wetting a portion of the surface structure with a liquid, the variation in the thickness of the liquid above the portion of the surface structure being at most 50% of the maximum thickness of the liquid above the surface structure, so that the liquid forms a light guide which has, and is bounded by, the inverse shape of the surface structure at a first large surface and is bounded by air at a second large surface; coupling light into the light guide so that the inverse shape of the surface structure at the first large surface is impinged by light such that light coupled into the light guide is coupled out of the light guide via the second large surface; capturing an image of the light coupled out and; evaluating the captured image.