Ultrasonic microscope and carrier for carrying an acoustic pulse transducer

An ultrasonic microscope for inspecting an object wherein the ultrasonic microscope comprises:

• an object holder configured to hold the object in an object region;
• a scan head movable relative to the object region, the scan head movable in a lateral plane for scanning the object
• a first transducer supported by the scan head, wherein the first transducer is configured to emit first acoustic pulses along an emission direction and to focus the first acoustic pulses in a first focal point, and wherein the first transducer is further configured to detect second acoustic pulses emerging from the object and to output a first acoustic detection signal representing the second acoustic pulses detected by the first transducer;
• a first actuator configured to move the first transducer relative to the scan head along a vertical direction which is essentially parallel to the emission direction;
• a controller configured to:
• calculate a predicted value at a first position;
• and
• control, based on the predicted value of the first position, vertical movement of the first transducer relative to the scan head provided by the first actuator so that a predefined working distance is maintained between the first transducer and a surface of the object while the object is scanned and during lateral movement of the scan head based on the first acoustic detection signal or values derived from the first acoustic detection signal, wherein the predefined working distance is defined so that the distance between the surface of the object and the first transducer remains constant, and wherein the first actuator is controlled according to the predicted value at the first position in advance of the scan head being moved to a second position wherein the object has not yet been analyzed in the second position;
• and
• a second transducer supported by the scan head so that the object region is located between the first transducer and the second transducer, wherein the second transducer is configured to detect the second acoustic pulses emerging from the object and to output a second acoustic detection signal representing the second acoustic pulses detected by the second transducer, wherein the controller is configured to:
• align the first focal point of the first transducer with a second focal point of the second transducer;
• determine a distance value representing a distance between the first transducer and a surface of the object based on the first detection signal,
• generate a control signal to control the distance between the object and the first transducer so that a vertical distance between the object and the first transducer remains constant during scanning of the object and during lateral movement of the scan head;
• and
• control, by the control signal, the vertical movement of the first and second transducers relative to the scan head such that the distance between the first transducer and the surface of the object remains constant and the first and second focal points of the first and second transducers, respectively, are aligned during scanning of the object and during lateral movement of the scan head.