The effectsofannealinganddoubleionirradiationonnuclearstructuralmaterialswereinvestigated
using anovel,non-destructive,non-contactdiagnosticmethod.Alaser-inducedandlaser-detectedsur-
face acousticwave(SAW)wasadoptedasadiagnosticsystem.TheSAWspropagationvelocityandthe
SAWsvibrationvelocityalongthenormaldirectionofthesurfaceweremeasuredtoinvestigateme-
chanical propertiesofthesubstrates.Changeoftheshearmoduluswasdetectedintheannealedsub-
strates.Non-lineareffectonamplitudeoftheexcitedSAWwasobservedonthedoubleionirradiated
materials. ThepotentialoftheSAWdiagnosticsystemforassessingnuclearstructuralmaterialswas
demonstrated