Effects of metallic diaphragm on sensitivity characteristics of optical ultrasonic sensor for under-sodium inspection

Saruta, Koichi   ; Yamaguchi, Toshihiko ; Ueda, Masashi 

We report the effects of the metallic diaphragm on the sensitivity characteristics of the optical ultrasonic sensor used in under-sodium inspection. The diaphragm is set on the wall of a tank filled with water in place of sodium to have direct contact with water on one side and air on the other side. A heterodyne interferometer is employed to detect the wave on the diaphragm induced by the ultrasonic wave emitted from a piezoelectric transducer placed in the water tank. Two kinds of waves appear on the diaphragm: the first corresponds to the incident ultrasonic wave and the second is surface wave arising from the peripheral of the diaphragm. We found that the first wave increases with decreasing thickness of the diaphragm, while the second wave is dependent on both the thickness and diameter. Moreover the second wave has larger amplitude than the first wave due to interference effect at the center of the diaphragm. This result suggests that the small amplitude of the incident ultrasonic wave can be detected with a higher sensitivity by using the second wave on the diaphragm.