Over the last few decades, the aerospace industry has turned increasingly to carbon composite structural materials to make aircraft lighter and more economical. With this increased use, it has become clear that conventional non-destructive testing (NDT) methods are often impractical or unsuitable for tests of these materials.

With ability to find discontinuities (both those introduced during the manufacturing process and those that result from use) in composite structures, Laser Shearography has become one of the primary methods used for non-destructive inspection.