Sinusoidal phase-modulating laser diode interferometer insensitive to the intensity modulation of the light source

In a conventional sinusoidal phase-modulating laser-diode (SPM-LD) interferometer, the wavelength of the LD is sinusoidally modulated by varying its injection current. However, the intensity modulation is associated with the wavelength modulation, which affects the measurement accuracy. We propose an SPM-LD interferometer insensitive to the intensity modulation of the light source, in which the influence of the intensity modulation is eliminated by choosing the appropriate sinusoidal phase modulation depth. Computer simulations and experiments are performed for real-time displacement measurement with the proposed SPM-LD interferometer. The measurement accuracy has been improved and the measurement repeatability is less than 1 nm. No additional components are required in our proposed method that leads to a simple system compared with the other previously proposed methods.     

Two-wavelength sinusoidal phase-modulating interferometer for nanometer accuracy measurement

A two-wavelength sinusoidal phase-modulating(SPM) laser diode(LD) interferometer for nanometer accuracy measurement is proposed.To eliminate the error caused by the intensity modulation,the SPM depth of the interference signal is chosen appropriately by varying the amplitude of the modulation current periodically. Then,the refine theory is induced to the measurement,and the two-wavelength interferometer (TWI) is combined with the single-wavelength LD interferometric technique to realize static displacement measurement with nanometer accuracy.Experimental results indicate that a static displacement measurement accuracy of 5 nm can be achieved over a range of 200μm.     

Photothermal modulation of laser diode wavelength: application to sinusoidal phase-modulating interferometer for displacement measurements

In this paper, a novel laser-diode (LD) sinusoidal phase-modulating (SPM) interferometer, which utilizes a photothermal technique for LD wavelength modulation, is proposed to measure displacements with a nanometer accuracy. In conventional LD–SPM interferometers, the LD intensity modulation is concurrent with the wavelength modulation, which increases measurement errors. Using the photothermal technique, the LD wavelength modulation can be accomplished with negligible concomitant intensity modulation, and the measurement errors are thus eliminated. The computer simulations and experiment results verify the usefulness of this novel interferometer.     

A sinusoidal phase-modulating fiber-optic interferometer insensitive to the intensity change of the light source

In a conventional laser-diode sinusoidal phase-modulating (LD-SPM) interferometer, the wavelength of the LD is modulated by varying its injection current. The intensity modulation concurrent with the wavelength modulation leads to measurement errors. A photothermal-modulation method has been proposed to decrease the intensity change of the LD; however, this method cannot be used to measure vibration with a high frequency, and the beam diameter is too large to be used to measure minute objects. In this paper, we propose LD-SPM fiber-optic interferometer, in which the effect of the intensity change of the light source on measurement is eliminated. The diameter of the light beam is less than 0.5 mm. Using this interferometer, we measured displacements of a mirror driven by a piezoelectric transducer. The measurement repeatability is less than 1 nm.     

Double sinusoidal phase modulating laser diode interferometer for thickness measurements of transparent plates

A double sinusoidal phase modulating (SPM) laser diode interferometer for thickness measurements of a transparent plate is presented. A carrier signal is given to the interference signal by using a piezoelectric transducer, and the SPM interferometry is applied to measure the thickness of a transparent plate. By combining the double-modulation technique with the Bessel function ratio method, the measurement error originating from light intensity fluctuations caused by the modulation current can be decreased greatly.The thicknesses of a glass parallel plate and a quartz glass are measured in real time, and the corresponding experimental results are also given.     

Recent developments in laser-diode interferometry

Laser-diode (LD) interferometry based on heterodyne techniques is described. The developments covered include: sinusoidal phase- modulating, distance-measuring feedback and phase-shifting interferometry. The wavelength is controlled by the laser injection current and is continuously or stepwise changed to introduce a time-varying phase difference between the two beams of an interferometer with unbalanced optical path lengths. A feedback interferometer is described with electronics to stabilize the phase shift and to lock the interferometer on a preset phase condition by controlling the injection current of the LD. An automated phase-measuring interferometric system is developed in which the laser current is changed to synchronize intensity data acquisition with the clocks of a charge-coupled device. A typical experimental result shows measurements of the profile of a diamond- turned Al surface.     

Sinusoidal phase-modulating laser diode interferometer for real-time surface profile measurement

A sinusoidal phase-modulating (SPM) laser diode (LD) interferometer for real-time surface profile measurement is proposed and its principle is analyzed. The phase signal of the surface profile is detected from the sinusoidal phase-modulating interference signal using a real-time phase detection circuit. For 60 × 60 measurement points of the surface profile, the measuring time is 10 ms. A root mean square (RMS) measurement repeatability of 3.93 nm is realized, and the measurement resolution reaches 0.19 nm.     

Resonant characteristics of microcantilever by using self-mixing interferometer based on phase reconstruction method

<正>The self-mixing interferometer is used to investigate the characteristics of resonant frequency of the microresonator, which is excited by a sinusoidally driven loud-speaker.The detected self-mixing signal is processed by the phase reconstruction method.The 1st-order resonant frequency of the microresonator is measured to be 4.437 kHz with full-width at half-maximum(FWHM) of 0.13 kHz.The measurement results are verified by the sinusoidal phase modulating(SPM) interferometer.     

Real-time surface profile measurement using a feedback type of sinusoidal phase modulating interferometer

In this paper, we propose a sinusoidal phase modulating (SPM) interferometer that is insensitive to external disturbances, and its measuring principle is analyzed theoretically. In the SPM interferometer, the interference signal is detected by a high-speed image sensor based on a low-speed CCD and a signal processing circuit is used to obtain the phase of each point on the surface. Therefore, the surface profile can be measured real-time. The experiments measuring the surface profile of a wedge-shaped optical flat show that the measurement time of the SPM interferometer is less than 10 ms, the repetitive measurement accuracy is 4.2 nm. The results show that the impacts of nonlinear distortion of the piezoelectric transducer (PZT) and part external disturbance are removed.     

Influence of laser diode wavelength tunability on the range, resolution and repeatability of interferometric distance measurement

The coherence length of a single mode laser diode (LD) can reach more than 10 m. It allows the application of this source of light to interferometric distance measurement, with a measurement range of several meters. However, the LD's wavelength tunability, which is a result of the dependence of the lasing wavelength on the injection current, prevents the realization of the theoretically possible metrological parameters of the interferometer. In this study, we analyze the influence of a low-frequency signal disturbance, e.g., noise or disturbing modulation inherent to the injection current of the LD, on the repeatability and measurement range of an LD interferometer used for displacement measurements. Both the measurement range and the resolution of the interferometer are found to be highly limited by this factor.     

Large-range displacement measurement using sinusoidal phase-modulating laser diode interferometer

A signal processing method of realizing a large-range displacement measurement in a sinusoidal phasemodulating laser diode interferometer is proposed. The method of obtaining the dynamic value of the effective sinusoidal phase-modulating depth is detailed, and the residual amplitude modulation is also taken into account.Numerical simulations and experiments are carried out to compare this method with the traditional one.We prove that, with this method, the sinusoidal phase-modulating laser diode interferometer can realize a centimeter-level displacement measurement range with high precision, which is much better than the traditional method.     

Measurement of small chirp-parameter for Mach-Zehnder-type optical modulator

A new measurement method of chirp-parameters is proposed for electro-optic (EO) intensity modulators with the Mach-Zehnder (MZ) waveguide interferometer. This method is suitably applied for the measurement of the small chirp with operation at a specific RF-frequency. To determine the chirp-parameter, optical spectrum components of the modulated light are observed with varying the relative optical phase difference between the two arms of the MZ waveguide interferometer. The chirp-parameter of 0.17, which is a value small enough for EO intensity modulation, was successfully measured by the experiment.     

A laser feedback interferometer with an oscillating feedback mirror

A method is proposed to solve the problem of direction discrimination for laser feedback interferometers.By vibrating the feedback mirror with a small-amplitude and high-frequency sine wave,laser intensity is modulated accordingly.The modulation amplitude can be extracted using a phase sensitive detector(PSD).When the feedback mirror moves,the PSD output shows a quasi-sine waveform similar to a laser intensity interference fringe but with a phase difference of approximately ±π/2.If the movement direction of the feedback mirror changes,the phase difference sign reverses.Therefore,the laser feedback interferometer offers a potential application in displacement measurement with a resolution of 1/8 wavelength and in-time direction discrimination.Without using optical components such as polarization beam splitters and wave plates,the interferometer is very simple,easy to align,and less costly.     

物体表面形貌的正弦相位调制实时干涉测量技术研究

表面形貌干涉测量技术是一种高精度的非接触式测量技术,在工业生产和科学研究中具有广泛的应用。提出一种实时测量表面形貌的正弦相位调制干涉测量新技术。该技术用激光二极管作光源,用自制的高速图像传感器探测干涉信号,通过信号处理电路实时解相得到被测表面所对应的相位分布,实时分析相位获得物体表面形貌。该技术消除了光强和部分外界干扰的影响,提高了系统的测量精度。楔形光学平板表面形貌的测量结果表明,测量点为60×60个的情况下,测量时间小于8.2 ms,重复测量精度(RMS)为4.3 nm。     

以慢变化近似为基础的新型正弦相位调制半导体激光干涉仪

提出并在实验上实现了一种以慢变化近似为基础的新型正弦相位调制半导体激光干涉仪。原理上它不要求相位解调一次和二次谐波分量振幅在实验中必须保持相等，从而将动态范围提高了３－４个数量级且不损失精度。用压电陶瓷和微电机驱动位移。     

正弦相位调制自混合干涉微位移测量精度分析

为了提高自混合干涉仪的位移测量精度,提出将正弦相位调制技术引入自混合干涉中。相位调制由置于自混合干涉仪外腔中的电光晶体实现,相位解调由傅里叶分析的方法得到。对位移测量过程中各种可能的误差来源如电光晶体调制不稳定性、光在外腔中的二次反馈效应等对测量精度的影响进行了模拟分析,从理论上得到了这种新的信号处理方法可以达到纳米级的测量精度。实验上,用高精度的商用压电陶瓷标定的结果验证了这种正弦相位调制自混合干涉仪在普通实验室噪声环境中可以达到纳米级的位移测量精度。     

Compulsorily Phase Locked Interferometer Using Orthogonally Polarized Light Source of a Modulated LD with High Extinction Ratio

This paper describes a compulsorily phase locked differential interferometer using an orthogonally polarized light source of a modulated LD with high extinction ratio to reduce non-linearity of the interferometer caused by polarization cross-talk. The current modulated LD is used as a light source to make the interferometer compact and for the scanning phase of the interferometer. The interferometer is operated compulsorily at the maximum inclination point of the fringe intensity curve by fringe scanning and an electric system. A Wollaston prism of high extinction ratio (50 dB) is used to combine the polarizing beams and to make the polarization cross-talk very small. In one light source the polarized output beams are on the same propagation axis; in the other they have a small crossing angle (2.5 mrad ∼ 10 mrad) to completely exclude non-linearity of the interferometer causded by polarization cross-talk. Using jets of a gas mixture of nitrogen and ethylene, this interferometer was demonstrated to be useful in detecting the photothermal effect of a photothermal velocimeter under phase fluctuation in a turbulent flow.     

基于电光聚合物的表面等离激元调制器

基于电光聚合物,提出了一种结构简单,尺寸小,效率高的表面等离激元(SPP)调制器.该调制器采用M-Z干涉仪结构的金属波导,金属周围是均匀极化后的电光聚合物,通过在金属波导两臂间加电压对聚合物折射率进行调制,折射率调制再通过M-Z干涉仪结构转化为对金属波导中SPP强度的调制. 通过求解金属波导附近的电场分布,并结合SPP场分布的特点,在理论上说明了这种结构可以通过外加电压有效地调制金属波导输出端SPP的强度,调制所需的半波电压约为2.8V. 关键词： 表面等离激元 电光调制 电光聚合物     

Fast interrogation using sinusoidally current modulated laser diodes for fiber Fabry–Perot interferometric sensor consisting of fiber Bragg gratings

A fast interrogation method using a sinusoidal modulated laser diode for a fiber Fabry–Perot interferometric sensor consisting of Bragg gratings (FBG–FPI) is proposed.. The FBG–FPI has sharp transmittance peaks in the reflection band of the FBGs. Wavelength sweep produced by current modulation of a laser diode can be used to detect the peak position. This enables high-resolution strain or temperature measurement. To precisely control the current, the current modulation is realized using a laser diode controller (LDC) with external modulation function. In the modulation by a sawtooth wave, the possible speed of wavelength sweeping is limited to 100 kHz or less due to the bandwidth limitation of an LDC and thermal effect in a laser diodeUsing a sinusoidal wave as a modulation waveform enables wavelength sweeping at speeds exceeding 100 kHz. The modulation characteristics of the laser wavelength is evaluated experimentally and the operating wavelength is monitored using an asymmetric Mach–Zehnder interferometer. The resolution of 0.2 fm/\(\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}\) and measurement time of 1 \(\upmu\)s were experimentally demonstrated in the present sensor.     

Movement measurement with a grating interferometer using sinusoidal phase-modulation

Movements of a surface profile are measured with a two-grating interferometer using sinusoidal phase-modulation. Since sinusoidal phase-modulating (SPM) interferometry can record a phase change due to the movement of an object in the interference signal, the SPM interferometer is suitable for measuring the movement of the object. Some experiments show that the two-grating interferometer can measure a sinusoidal vibration with amplitude of several tens of microns and a step movement with a magnitude of several microns.