To obtain micrometer resolution of materials using acoustics requires frequencies around 1 GHz. Attenuation of such frequencies is high, limiting the thickness of the parts that can be characterized. Although acoustic microscopes can operate up to several GHz in frequency, they are used primarily as a surface characterization tool. The use of a pulsed laser for acoustic generation allows generation directly in the part, eliminating the loss of energy associated with coupling the energy from a piezoelectric transducer to the part of interest. The use of pulsed laser acoustic generation in combination with optical detection is investigated for the non‐contact characterization of materials with features that must be characterized to micrometer resolution.