Optical Vibration Measurement per Laser Vibrometry

Reliably handling demanding acoustic tasks

Laser vibrometry enables non-contact vibration measurement and makes this technology the perfect tool for your audio and ultrasonic studies. Vibrometers are indispensable tools for you when you’re designing loudspeakers and identifying disturbing membrane resonances. Vibrometer measurements provide an experimental basis for challenging acoustic problems, such as predicting the structural-acoustic response, acoustic imaging, anti-sound and much more besides. Laser vibrometer measurements also prove beneficial in microphone, cell phone and hearing aid development.

Most manufacturers of ultrasonic devices for industrial and medical use already place their trust in Polytec products for their research and development processes too. Its ability to reliably measure both actuators’ and sensors’ vibrational characteristics makes laser vibrometry an indispensable tool for FE modeling, optimization and troubleshooting.

Optical measurements that drive progress

Nowadays, automotive development is driven by the need for ever higher efficiency levels. Lightweight construction, electrification and downsizing are the characterizing “factors” in industry. Simulation tools bypass entire development cycles in this regard. Valid tests and the measuring technology used there bridge the gap between the virtual world (simulation) and the real world of prototypes.

The Polytec vibrometers’ optical vibration measurement technology guarantees non-intrusive data in a quality that satisfies the high simulation and efficiency standards encountered in everyday testing operations – even for lightweight structures. You can put Polytec’s measuring technology to versatile use: on the test bench, in the modal test, in vehicle acoustics or in sensor development. Even if everything doesn’t always go to plan, with the Polytec vibrometers you can always rest assured that you’ll get reliable decision capable data and quick problem visualization even during troubleshooting operations. So you’ll always achieve the outcome you’re after in the end.

Analyzing vibration and acoustics of natural processes

For researchers and developers from biology, medicine, medical technology and many other specialist fields, Polytec’s vibrometers are indispensable tools for investigating natural dynamic processes and optimizing technical products. 

In biology, optical vibrometry helps to understand biological and physiological processes in a non-contact and reactionless way as well as to conduct research into various species’ hearing mechanisms. The technology is economically relevant too – in that it can be used to determine fruit ripeness or to enable completely chemical-free pest control for crops.

In medical technology, vibrometers are used both to record physiological processes and to investigate sound conduction and transduction from the eardrum to the inner ear for optimizing measurement and diagnostic methods, as well as for developing more effective and reliable healthcare products.

Store data the secure way

Laser Doppler vibrometers, which are used to measure a multitude of the overall hard disk drive system’s and its sub-components’ dynamic properties, have proven themselves to be indispensable tools when it comes to developing computer hard disk drives. The vibrational properties of the delicate mechatronic or microelectromechanical systems of the read/write heads including the actuators and suspension can be determined in experiments only when using non-contact optical measurement methods such as laser vibrometry. Only methods such as this have the required resolution and dynamics to carry out modal and resonance tests for the purpose of determining and optimizing dynamic parameters and usage conditions. Laser vibrometers also help you to identify the causes of noise in the drive system during noise tests, so that you can then purposefully implement constructive measures to reduce the noise being emitted to below the perception threshold. Vibrometers have also proven to be highly efficient sensors for monitoring quality in production.

Testing the quality of semiconductors and solar technology components

Do you work with innovative technologies and materials in the solar, semiconductor and electronics industries? Do you develop, make or test printed circuits, PCBs, electronic modules, electronic assemblies or PV modules? Are you striving to create smaller, more powerful and extremely reliable structural elements, components or modules? Yes? Then you need powerful measurement and testing methods for developing and ensuring the quality of your products and components and for monitoring them in the long term.

Components’ dynamic behaviour in particular, is a key quality indicator and allows the user to draw conclusions as to both the reliability and the service life of their electronic or photovoltaic assemblies and products. In this situation, Polytec’s optical vibration sensors with laser vibrometers are indispensable tools for you – whether you’re carrying out dynamic tests in research, design and industrial testing, or monitoring processes such as the bond process when manufacturing power electronics.

Reliable sensors for industrial quality control

In industrial manufacturing of consumer and capital goods, both product and process optimization play the key role for sustainable economic success. Quality assurance in production therefore relies on fast, automated and robust testing and measurement instrumentation.

Acoustic quality control as the detailed detection of structure borne noise is quite a versatile, non-destructive testing method. Acoustic inspections are designed to ensure the quality and reliability of products and thus the entire manufacturing process. Acoustic quality testing equipment supplies information about vibration behavior in real-time and helps keep detect deviations and reduce rejects early in the production process, way before a critical failure. Polytec IVS Industrial Vibration Sensors inform in real-time about the condition of test objects.

Polytec offers complete solutions: sensors, software and hardware modules. The laser vibrometers are robust and reliable sensors for quality control of complete parts in final production testing or in end-of-line testing. Major benefits using laser sensors are the non-contact and non-destructive nature, the fast setup and simple integration into industrial manufacturing processes and the flexibility to cope with varying samples in manufacturing lines using auto-focus. Polytec vibration sensors are compatible and easy to integrate into existing test stations as comprehensive, powerful production testing solutions. Use also the Polytec diagnosis software QuickCheck for automatically measuring and evaluating the measurement data for reliable pass-fail decisions and classification of parts.

Materials research and testing

Around the world, scientists at hundreds of universities and research centers for engineering, materials research, machine construction and many other specialist fields place their trust in instruments from Polytec. Laser vibrometry has proven its worth as an ideal tool for materials investigations – both for the measurement of structural dynamics and for the non-destructive detection and prevention of signs of fatigue. There are a wealth of applications in functional and long-term structural monitoring and in geological issues.

For efficient product development in micro- and nanotechnology

Precise, reliable and fast measuring technology for characterizing and monitoring the quality of devices is decisive to in developing and producing microsystems. This is all the more important since microsensors are increasingly taking over safety-related tasks too – placing high demands on reliability and functional safety. A robust design and high production precision play a key role in this regard.

Active microelectromechanical structural elements such as MEMS actuators or sensors need suitable optical measurement methods, since purely electrical characterization isn’t enough.

Polytec’s Micro System Analyzers are ideal for this. On the one hand, they enable determination of the surface topography with a high resolution and, on the other, they allow for precise characterization of the dynamic motion behaviour too. Dynamic measurement using laser Doppler vibrometry is characterized by a high frequency bandwidth and extremely good displacement amplitude resolution. This measuring technology even enables vibration measurements up to the high MHz range (and even the GHz range) – which is required for an ever-growing number of microtechnology applications.