Silicon carbide mirrors were characterized using several qualitative and quantitative nondestructive ultrasound techniques in order to determine the most efficient method for rapid performance evaluations. Ultrasound testing was performed in immersion using both phased array and single transducer systems in pulse-echo configuration. C-scan images of top and bottom surface reflected signal peak amplitudes were used to qualitatively locate and identify homogeneity variations within the mirror materials. Quantitative analysis of normalized amplitude histograms revealed significant differences in homogeneity estimations between phased array and single transducer test methods. Acoustic spectroscopy over the 10-33MHz regime identified bulk microstructural differences between high and low amplitude regions in the samples. While ultrasound phased array performed well at rapidly locating surface and subsurface heterogeneities, it could not match the resolution and clarity of single transducer C-scan images or the insight of acoustic spectroscopy analyses.

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