Optical measurements of angle and axis of rotation

A carousel interferometer is designed to find the unknown angle and axis of rotation simultaneously. A set consisting of a compensator glass plate and a right-angle prism is placed in each of the two arms of the interferometer while located at the same rotational stage. When rotation takes place individual and relative optical path differences are generated in the beams that contribute toward finding out the angle and axis of rotation. Computer simulation shows that error remains less than a nanometer for a 1 m length of unknown radius and rotation range of +/-15 degrees .