Profiling high-angle surfaces with focused transducers and time-of-flight measurements

The goal is to image the distance from the surface to the single transducer which scans over the surface with its axis aligned with the mean normal to the surface. A temporally compact pulse is dispersed by reflection from the surface. Consequently, the time of flight is ambiguous. The major practical goal in this case is to avoid cycle skipping, in order to achieve a profile that is at least accurate to somewhat less than a wavelength. It is demonstrated that focused transducers are better than flat transducers with comparable resolutions for profiling surfaces with high angles