Abstract
This project is comprised of primary source research on the field of semiconductor microscopy. We were interested in determining a more interdisciplinary application of this technology, as the most frequently cited applications are for defense purposes such as drug screening or infrared imaging. When we researched, we found that these technologies have been used in detecting art forgery and were intrigued to find that laser imaging boasts remarkable benefits over prior methods, as they are not destructive and offer large amounts of information beyond what surface level techniques can provide. The intent of the project was to come up with a 30-minute presentation outlining current technologies and possible improvements to the technology. Due to the scientific properties of different colors of lights, lasers of different colors can be used to determine chemical composition of paints without destructive chemical processes and can also be used to find hidden signatures or features underneath other layers of paint. This is because certain colors can see through certain layers, exactly like an X-ray, and display features at varying depths below the surface. We briefly discuss using more advanced light sources and the types of advantages they can offer, in addition to possible improvements allowing for lower cost and higher temperature operation of these kinds of systems. There is currently a barrier to commercialization both in cost and in temperature which can be resolved by some of the methods we propose for laser and detector construction.