Formulation of moiré fringes based on spatial averaging

The use of moiré technique in measurements often involves locating the position of moiré fringe and in some cases determining its profile. Due to intensity fluctuation in the fringe pattern, these measurements are accompanied by some errors. It is possible to define a smoothed version of the original fringe pattern and then formulate the related subject in accordance with the characteristics of this new pattern. This procedure reduces these types of errors and gives a well-defined profile of the fringes. In this paper a formulation of moiré phenomenon based on spatial averaging is presented which, without ignoring any of frequencies, leads to a smooth profile.     

Window fringe pattern demodulation by multi-functional fitting using a genetic algorithm

We present a new way to demodulate complicated fringe patterns containing closed fringes using a genetic algorithm (GA). The entire fringe pattern is divided into a set of partially overlapping smaller sub-image windows. Each of these has a lower dimensionality and as a consequence is faster and can be demodulated more reliably. The demodulation process proceeds row-by-row way passing from one sub-image in a neighborhood until the whole interferogram is processed. The modulating phase of each sub-image is modeled as a parametric analytic function whose parameters are optimized using a GA. The technique is demonstrated demodulating some normalized fringe patterns that have two main difficulties: closed fringes within the interferogram and regions of under-sampled fringes. These fringe images cannot be demodulated by techniques such as the regularized phase tracker (RPT).     

Refractive and geometric lens characterization through multi-wavelength digital speckle pattern interferometry

Physical parameters of different types of lenses were measured through digital speckle pattern interferometry (DSPI) using a multimode diode laser as light source. When such lasers emit two or more longitudinal modes simultaneously the speckle image of an object appears covered of contour fringes. By performing the quantitative fringe evaluation the radii of curvature as well as the refractive indexes of the lenses were determined. The fringe quantitative evaluation was carried out through the four- and the eight-stepping techniques and the branch-cut method was employed for phase unwrapping. With all these parameters the focal length was calculated. This whole-field multi-wavelength method does enable the characterization of spherical and aspherical lenses and of positive and negative ones as well.     

Examination of the upper measurement limit in displacement measurement using fringe compensation in digital holography

Digital holography is a widely used method for displacement measurement in coherent optical metrology. An obvious limit of the method is that too large displacements result in dense fringes, so the fringes are practically invisible. The maximum number of contour fringes in displacement measurement is limited, because the cameras are discrete devices and sampling theory plays an important role. Because of the limited measurement range, compensation methods are promising tools for practical measurements. It can be shown that the practical measurement range can be extended above the Nyquist sampling limit. Compensation methods can be digital, because digital holographic interferometry operates with images recorded with a digital camera. In our research work the upper measurement range of fringe compensation method was examined. Our goal was to perform automatic compensation even if the displacement is higher than the measurement range of the basic method. The operation of the automatic fringe compensation method was based on the combination of two types of out-of-plane displacement measurements with different sensitivities.     

The filtering characteristics of simple grating optical low-pass filters

We studied the characteristics of a two-dimensional grating optical low-pass filter (GOLF) theoretically and experimentally. The modulation transfer function (MTF) of an optical system that consists of a lens and a GOLF is theoretically derived by taking all orders of diffracted beams into consideration. The MTFs of a two-phase chess-board-type GOLF and a three-phase GOLF were calculated for various phase differences and compared with that of a birefringent low-pass filter (BLF). The three-phase GOLF with nine center beams of equal strength removes most moiré fringes, but the resolution degradation is severe compared to the BLF. The two-phase GOLF with a phase difference of 180°, which is similar to the BLF in term of beam distribution, has a medium characteristic somewhere between those of the three-phase GOLF and the BLF. Samples of two GOLFs are made and experimented on by attaching them to a digital camera. The experimental result coincides with the theoretical development. Received: 31 October 2001 / Revised version: 4 March 2002 / Published online: 2 May 2002     

Three Gaussian beam heterodyne interferometer for surface profiling

A novel three Gaussian beam interferometric technique for profiling optical smooth surfaces is presented. The technique is based on the heterodinization of three Gaussian beams, two of them with the same temporal frequency. The first beam is used as a probe beam after being focused and reflected from the surface under test. The second beam is reflected from a reference surface. The third beam is obtained from the first diffraction order of a Bragg cell and thus, it is shifted in its temporal frequency. The three beams are coherently added at the sensitive plane of a photodetector that integrates the overall intensity of the beams. We show analytically that the electrical signal at the output of the photodetector consists of a temporal carrier whose amplitude is a sinusoidal function of the local topography. We include the measurement of the topography of a sample consisting in a blazed-reflecting grating calibrated by means of an atomic force microscope.     

全息散斑条纹的提取及图像处理

介绍了一种新的全息散斑条纹的提取方法.理论和实验表明:对全息散斑底片逐点再现时,两伴生亮斑条纹是全息散斑底片一级衍射光的杨氏干涉条纹,与中央的杨氏条纹是一致的,有较高的条纹对比度且没有背景光晕的影响.利用计算机数字图像处理技术对伴生散斑条纹进行处理,定量测试了受静载物体的面内位移.     

Position magnifying sensor

This paper describes the application of multiple beam shearing interferometry to a position magnifying sensor. A multiple beam shearing interferometer (MBSI) with a shear plate wedged in the vertical direction produces sharp multiple beam fringes. When the lateral displacement of a point source (which gives rise to the input beam of the MBSI) or its image occurs in the horizontal direction, these fringes move vertically in a magnified manner. This characteristic was used in a position magnifying sensor to detect the displacement of a point image. The advantages of the sensor include a large displacement magnification (more than a hundred times) and a large working distance.     

基于光线追迹的单频激光多重回馈效应研究

提出一种基于非准直平凹回馈腔的单频激光多重回馈光线追迹模型,采用该模型阐明了单频激光多重回馈效应的产生机理,分析了多重回馈高分辨率条纹的特性,明确了影响多重回馈条纹形状的主要因素,包括回馈镜的倾角、曲率半径、反射率以及回馈外腔长等,获得了回馈镜在不同倾角时的有效回馈阶次及其耦合系数。光线追迹分析与实验结果表明:当回馈镜倾斜角为1.7时,多重回馈效应会产生调制幅度均匀、没有大包络的高分辨率回馈条纹,每个条纹的分辨率可达/50。     

Multi-wavelength holography in Bi12TiO20 crystals: Applications in refractometry

We present a recent development in holography with multimode, large free-spectral range (FSR) diode lasers in photorefractive sillenite crystals. A novel refractometry method based on this type of holographic recording in Bi₁₂TiO₂₀ (BTO) crystals is proposed. The holographic image of a prism-shaped transparent sample appears covered of interference fringes, and as the sample is properly translated, the fringes run along the holographic image. An expression providing the refractive index of the medium as a function of the sample displacement and the correspondent number of running fringes was derived. The refractive indexes of optical (BK7) glass, ethanol, hexan, cumene and aqueous solution of NaCl with different concentrations were measured in order to test the method. The obtained results are in good agreement with the ones reported in literature or measured by us using a commercial Abbe refractometre.     

Measurement of dynamic crack tip displacement field by speckle photography and interferometry

Speckle interferometry has been used to measure the transient displacement field around a crack due to stress wave loading. Double exposure interferograms are recorded with a pulsed ruby laser, and correlation fringes formed by spatial filtering of the developed film. A new technique is presented for reducing the noise level in spatially filtered speckle interferograms. Independent fringe patterns, obtained from one interferogram but with the filtering aperture sampling different regions of the Fourier transform plane, are digitised by a CCD camera and combined numerically. It is demonstrated that accurate analysis of fringe patterns by the Fourier transform method can be carried out, even if no carrier fringes are present. The measurements are compared with those obtained by speckle photography. Least-squares fitting of the theoretical displacement field is used to calculate the stress intensity factor at the crack tip as a function of time.     

Multiple-encoding retrieval for optical security

We propose a method for image encryption by multiple-step random phase encoding with an undercover multiplexing operation. The true image is stored in a multiple record we call encodegram; and then we can reconstruct it by the use of the appropriate random phase masks and a retrieval protocol. To increase the security of the true hidden image and confuse unauthorized receivers, we add to the encodegram an encoded fake image with different content. This fake image has only a small effect on the retrieval of the true hidden image, owing to the specific property of this protocol. In the decryption step, we can reveal the true image by applying the inverse protocol to two cyphertexts, one the encodegram containing the true image along with the fake image; and the other helping to get the random phase key to achieve the true image. Computer simulations verify the validity of this method for image encryption. Digital implementation of the method makes it particularly suitable for the remote transmission of information.     

A combined method for obtaining fringe orientations of ESPI

Fringe orientation can direct the processing of fringe patterns and provide basic information for understanding the fringe patterns. The gradient method is popularly used for its convenience but it is easily affected by noise. The plane-fit method is capable of obtaining precise local fringe orientation despite the high speckle noise but it is strict with the calculating window size. In this paper, a combined method is proposed. This method uses the plane-fit algorithm to get local gradients and uses the gradient method to get the orientation results from these gradients. It can be seen that this new method can get more accurate orientations for ESPI than both the gradient method and the plane-fit method.     

Displacement measurements in structural elements by optical techniques

Speckle metrology and holographic interferometry (HI) have been used in several civil engineering applications. We present the results obtained by applying speckle photography (SP) to the study of two quadratic shearwalls with different boundary conditions, and the potential of the technique in the study of this kind of structures is described. The analysis of Young's fringes obtained with this technique at certain points on each shearwall provides the whole field of displacement measurements. HI has been used to measure the three components of absolute displacement, verifying that the bulging phenomenon does not affect the in-plane components when the applied load remains on the same plane as the shearwall. A qualitative analysis is carried out following an electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) technique. The results obtained by optical techniques are compared to the numerical results obtained by the finite element method (FEM), finding good correlation between them in all the cases.     

The discovery of nanometer fringes in laser self-mixing interference

We demonstrate the influences of optical feedback from an external mirror with high reflectivity in a He-Ne laser on self-mixing interference fringes and laser polarization states. When the external mirror is tilted to a certain level, the stable and uniform nanometer resolution fringes are generated. The fringe density is 40 times than that of the conventional self-mixing interference or two beam interference, and has still potential to be improved. Each self-mixing interference fringe corresponds to λ/80 displacement of the external mirror, i.e. 7.91 nm displacement of the external mirror. Moreover, when the movement direction of the external mirror is changed, the polarization flipping between two eigenstates will happen. The potential applications of the results are also discussed.     

High-rate pulse-train generation by phase-only filtering of an electrooptic frequency comb: Analysis and optimization

We investigate the generation of high-rate optical pulse trains by spectral phase-only filtering of a frequency comb derived from an electrooptically phase-modulated continuous-wave laser. The technique is initially analyzed as a two-step filtering process. First, a fundamental pulse-train with repetition-rate equal to the modulation frequency is obtained by line-by-line phase-cancellation of the electrooptic frequency comb. Second, the temporal Talbot-effect is considered so that the output pulse repetition-rate is an integer multiple of the electrooptic modulation frequency. Nonidealities found in the fundamental train lead, in general, to multiplied trains with important degradations. We numerically analyze optimum modulation conditions for generation of output pulse trains with minimum peak-to-peak variations and/or maximum extinction level. On the other hand, a genetic algorithm is considered to numerically find optimum line-by-line phase-only filters that generate output multiplied trains with minimized degradations. Numerical simulations show that, in general, this second approach allows for improvement in the quality of the resultant multiplied trains, in terms of the uniformity degree and/or noise-level, compared with the pulse trains resulting from the Talbot-effect-based approach.     

Binary polarization pupil filter: Theoretical analysis and experimental realization with a liquid crystal display

The Jones matrix formalism has been applied to evaluate the response of an optical system when a non-uniform polarizing pupil is introduced. With this formalism we analyze and experimentally demonstrate the properties of a binary polarization pupil filter having two regions with two orthogonal linear polarization orientations. We first study the case when no analyzer is placed behind the pupil filter, and both, the transversal and the axial behavior are described in terms of the intensity and the local state of polarization. Then it is shown how the response of the optical system can be easily changed through the orientation of an analyzer placed behind the pupil. We experimentally verified the theory using a twisted nematic liquid crystal display, which produces two orthogonal linear polarization states for two different addressed voltages.     

Planar dielectric grating diffraction theories

Various planar dielectric grating diffraction theories are reviewed for the case of a general sinusoidal permittivity planar grating with slanted fringes and plane wave incidence at an arbitrary angle. Exact formulations without approximations (rigorous coupled-wave analysis and rigorous modal analysis) are developed first. Then, using a series of fundamental assumptions, rigorous theory is shown to reduce to the various approximate theories in the appropriate limits. The implications of these fundamental assumptions are discussed.     

Optical color image encryption with redefined fractional Hartley transform

We propose a new method for color image encryption by wavelength multiplexing on the basis of two-dimensional (2-D) generalization of 1-D fractional Hartley transform that has been redefined recently in search of its inverse transform. A color image can be considered as three monochromatic images and then divided into three components and each component is encrypted independently with different wavelength corresponding to red, green or blue light. The system parameters of fractional Hartley transform and random phase masks are keys in the color image encryption and decryption. Only when all of these keys are correct, can the image be well decrypted. The optical realization is then proposed and computer simulations are also performed to confirm the possibility of the proposed method.     

Beugungstheoretische Behandlung eines Differentialinterferometers für ausgedehnte Phasenobjekte

The diffraction theory of image construction has been used, in the case of a differential interferometer employing a Wollaston prism, to derive the position of the interference fringes in dependence upon the phase object and the prism position. This procedure is not only more correct, but proves also to be simpler than the corresponding geometric-optical treatment. An example is presented in which the fringe shift resulting from a symmetrical gas flow has been used to evaluate the gradient of the optical path perpendicular to the rotational axis of symmetry.