Measurements of the velocity gradient using a laser Doppler phenomenon

This paper reports on a method for measuring the velocity gradient using a laser Doppler phenomenon. The velocity gradient is determined from the velocity difference between two different points of the probing object and is actually obtained from the optical heterodyning of two differently Doppler-shifted scattered light fields from two points of the object having different velocities. The properties of output beat signals are theoretically investigated from their spectral broadening including the effect of the detecting aperture. The preliminary experiment was performed by using a rotating glass disk whose velocity is different from its center to the outside. The experimental results shows the usefulness of the present method for measurements of the velocity gradient.