Laser diagnostics developed for conservation and restoration of cultural inheritance

Different laser induced diagnostics, originally developed for different purposes including material characterization and environmental monitoring, have been applied in the field of Cultural Inheritance preservation with the aim to facilitate successive conservation and restoration actions. In this paper results relevant to three different techniques are reviewed. The use of topologic laser and 3D sensor in checking small artifacts and large surfaces is discussed, the application of Speckle interferometry to defect analysis of ceramic artwork is represented, a demonstration of the capabilities of a time resolved LIF system in the characterization of surface composition of ancient ceramics and frescoes is finally given.© (2000) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.