Precise interferometric length measurement using real-time fringe fitting

We created a simple device for the measurement of nanoscale displacements consisting in a Twyman-Green interferometer with one mirror having a slight offset in the horizontal plane with respect to the direction perpendicular to the incoming beam and one mobile mirror, a CCD array camera that captures frames of fringes (interferograms) generated by the interferometer and a software that acquires the interferograms captured by the camera and fits the fringes in order to determine the initial spatial phase of the series of fringes and, consequently, to monitor the movement of the mobile arm of the interferometer. Because the interferograms were acquired and analyzed sequentially, the algorithm could be parallelized easily on a multiprocessor/multicore platform. The device can work in real-time in which case the maximum speed of the mobile arm of the interferometer for which we can obtain unambiguous results is 30 λ/8/s, which is, assuming a He-Ne laser as the light source, almost 2.5 μm/s. In real-time conditions, the precision and accuracy of the measurement are low. In stationary conditions, however, the precision was determined to be below 1 nm.     

Instrument forward model of the modified Sagnac interferometer for atmospheric wind measurement

The instrument forward model of the modified super-wide-Sagnac imaging interferometer based on liquid crystals on Silicon (MSASII-LCoS) is developed as an integrated code package with Matlab language to simulate the images of satellite observations. There are five sub-models in the forward model including radiation model of O(¹S), orbit attitude, filter, interferometer and array detector. The principle of each sub-model is described separately and then the overall forward model equation is derived. The four simulation images are obtained. Based on the integrated signal level for the daytime observations, the apparent measurement error of wind is less than 3 m/s and the signal noise ratio (SNR) is greater than 194 with a binning of 2 × 25 pixels at the tangent height range of 70-190 km.     

Fringe Locking in a Laser Diode Interferometer by Optical Feedback During Modulation of Injection Current

A fringe locking phenomenon in a two beam interferometer using a semiconductor laser subject to optical feedback was, whose injection current is modulated. When a path difference of the interferometer is sufficient, fringes taken by a charge coupled device camera are seen to be stationary and the rms fluctuations of fringe phase is reduced to as low as 0.2ϖ radians from more than 8ϖ radians without the optical feedback. The rms phase fluctuation is independent of frequency and amplitude of the current modulation. The fringe locking has also been observed in the presence of both injection current modulation and piezoelectric transducer mirror vibration.     

Fringe Locking in a Laser Diode Interferometer under Both Mirror Vibration and Injection Current Modulation

We have found that the fringes in a laser diode interferometer can be locked even in the presence of mirror vibration and injection current modulation. A theoretical analysis explains the fringe locking phenomenon. The dependence of wavelength change on both PZT (piezoelectric transducer) mirror vibration and the injection current variation are calculated using a model of coupled resonators consisting of the laser cavity and the interferometer. The fringe phase change caused by the vibration and modulation of the current is derived from this model, and was proven to be suppressed within much less than 2ϖ in excess of an integer multiple of 2ϖ.     

Recovery of reduced fringe visibility due to finite crossing angle between two paths of a neutron interferometer

In the present study the restoration of interference fringes, whose visibility is degraded by the presence of a finite crossing angle between the two paths of a neutron interferometer, is experimentally demonstrated. A crossing angle of 1.0 μrad was introduced using an optical component consisting of a magnetic multilayer mirror, a wedge-shaped gap layer, and a nonmagnetic multilayer mirror. To restore the interference fringes, magnetic gradients of 0.64 G/cm were applied using two electro-quadrupole magnets.     

Parallel Plate Interferometer with a Reflecting Mirror for Measuring Angular Displacement

A parallel plate interferometer with a reflecting mirror for measuring angular displacement is proposed. A deflection angle of a beam caused by an angular displacement is amplified by use of a reflecting mirror to increase the optical path difference (OPD) in the plane-parallel plate, which provides high sensitivity of the phase measurement. Detection of light transmitted through the plane-parallel plate with a position sensitive detector (PSD) enables high accurate measurement of the initial angle of incidence to the plane-parallel plate with insensitivity to stray light. The improved parallel plate interferometer achieves a measurement repeatability of 10⁻⁸ rad.     

Wavelength shift determination using a dual-path heterodyne Mach-Zehnder interferometer

This paper introduces a dual-path heterodyne Mach-Zehnder interferometer adopted for wavelength shift determinations. In this interferometer, two parallel incident beams are separated into two interference pairs which are then recombined to generate two interference signals. A parallel plate is placed on the path of one wave of an interference pair, so the phase difference of the interference signals is a function of the plate and beam wavelength, and the interferometer is thus able to determine the wavelength shift of the incident beam. A setup constructed to realize the proposed interferometer is described, it shows that the interferometer has a resolution up to 1.1 × 10⁻¹⁰ (λ²/nm), and the experimental results of applying this setup not only agree the validity of the interferometer but also indicate that the interferometer has a stability of 6.5 × 10⁻¹⁰ (λ²/nm).     

Temperature-independent optical fiber Fabry–Perot refractive-index sensor based on hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

A novel optical fiber refractive index (RI) sensor, which is based on an intrinsic Fabry–Perot interferometer (IFPI) formed by a section of hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (HCPCF) and standard single mode fibers (SMF), is proposed. The external refractive index is determined according to the maximum fringe contrast of the interference fringes in the reflective spectrum of the sensor. The RI response performance is demonstrated for the measurement of the different RI solutions. The experimental data agree well with the theoretical results. Also the RI resolution and repeatability of ∼1.5 × 10⁻⁵ and ±0.5% in the linear measurement region, are achieved. In addition, the temperature response is tested from 20 °C to 120 °C, which exhibits excellent thermal stability. Therefore, such an HCPCF-based F–P sensor provides a practical way to measure RI with non-temperature compensation.     

基于洛伦兹线型极光的上层大气风场探测模式研究

从洛伦兹线型极光的干涉强度、调制度与光程差的理论公式出发,用λ/4的步进光程差即“四强度法”获得一个波长范围内的4个干涉强度值,以实现基于洛伦兹线型极光的上层大气的风速、温度、压强等物理量的探测。提出用改形萨尼亚克成像干涉仪替代迈克耳孙干涉仪实现上层大气风场,给出了基准光程差的公式,并用四面角锥棱镜镀膜技术获得4个干涉强度值来同时探测上层大气风场的模式。最后在实验室将Kr灯557.0nm调整光束到一定宽度,对称地从顶角为60°的两面镀膜角锥棱镜的顶点入射,用768pixel×576pixel的CCD照相机接收到两个光斑的成像,这两个光斑的再复制就得到镀膜四面角锥棱镜在一个周期内的4个干涉强度光斑,从而获得上层大气风场。     

Narrow band optical filter in fluorescein doped boric acid glass saturable absorber thin films

We demonstrate narrow band optical filter like frequency response with full width half maximum (FWHM) of nearly (1.75 ± 0.25) Hz in fluorescein doped boric acid glass films [10⁻⁴ M], using modulated optical phase conjugation and a nearly non-degenerate four wave mixing technique. Modulated optical phase conjugation signals are described in the limit of a weak probe and relatively strong pump beams. Both pump beams are of nearly equal intensity at a wavelength of 514.5 nm from a continuous-wave Ar⁺ laser. The probe beam frequency has been detuned with a ramp signal using a piezo electric mirror.     

Active Phase-Shifting Interferometer Using Current Modulation of a Laser Diode

An active phase-shifting interferometer using current modulation of a laser diode is proposed. Fringe movement in the instrument is detected by a spatial filtering detector whose output is fed back to the injection current of the laser diode to lock the fringes and shift them correctly for phase shifting analysis. Frequency modulation characteristics of the laser diode and frequency response of the feedback system are first investigated. We constructed a portable interferometer head set apart from a mirror under test then measured the shape of a spherical mirror 130 mm in diameter, which was placed on a wooden table subject to vibration. Measurement repeatability of λ/35 was achieved.     

Analysis on the laser beam pointing instability induced fringe shift and contrast dilution from different interferometers used for writing fiber Bragg grating

This paper presents an analysis on the effect of laser beam pointing instability on the fringe shift and hence the contrast dilution of superposed fringes from two beam interferometers. The interferometers analyzed are those commonly used in writing fiber Bragg grating (FBG) such as phase mask, bi-prism and phase mask based Talbot/Holographic type. The beam pointing instability is incorporated as slight change in the angle between two interfering beams. The relative immunity of different interferometers to laser beam pointing is discussed vs location of FBG writing plane from the beam splitter. The effect of the beam pointing was minimum in proximity FBG writing by phase mask. The effect, in terms of fringes contrast dilution, was worst in case of large length interferometers e.g. phase mask based-Talbot interferometer. For intermediate length prism interferometers, the effect was moderate. For a given length interferometer, the fringe shift was directly proportional to beam pointing angle and inversely proportional to fringe separation. Theoretical analysis is verified experimentally by studying the fringe instability of interference pattern formed by a bi-prism of angle 2^o with the copper vapour laser (CVL, λ = 510 nm) beams of different beam pointing instabilities.     

Temperature-independent curvature sensor based on tapered photonic crystal fiber interferometer

A temperature-independent highly-sensitive curvature sensor by using a tapered-photonic crystal fiber (PCF)-based Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. It is fabricated by sandwiching a tapered-PCF between two standard single mode fibers (SMFs) with the air holes of the PCF in the fusion splicing region being fully collapsed. The tapering of PCF is found to enhance the sensitivity significantly. Large curvature sensitivities of 2.81 dB/m⁻¹ and 8.35 dB/m⁻¹ are achieved in the measurement ranges of 0.36-0.87 m⁻¹ and 0.87-1.34 m⁻¹, respectively, with the resolution of 0.0012 m⁻¹ being guaranteed. The proposed sensor also shows negligible temperature sensitivity less than 0.006 dB/°C.     

Giga-bit optical receiver for plastic optical fibre

An optical receiver with high sensitivity and linearity specially designed for Giga-bit communications over small-bandwidth high-attenuation multimode plastic optical fiber is presented. An automatic gain control transimpedance amplifier and linear post amplifiers are used to maintain a good performance with multilevel modulation. Using multilevel signaling and large-diameter integrated photodiodes make the presented optical receiver suitable for large core plastic optical fiber. For a wavelength of 675 nm, a sensitivity of −26.3 dB m (BER = 10⁻⁹) at 500 Mb/s is presented by a binary signal. A data rate of 1 Gb/s and a sensitivity of −19.8 dB m (BER = 10⁻⁹) are achieved with four-level pulse amplitude modulation.     

Principle and analysis of a moving double-sided mirror interferometer

A moving double-sided mirror interferometer (MDSMI) is presented. It comprises one moving double-sided mirror (MDSM), one fixed corner-cube mirror, one fixed plane mirror, and one beam-splitter. The MDSM is a plane-parallel glass plate with both faces coated with high-reflectivity films. The optical path difference (OPD) is created by the straight reciprocating motion of the MDSM driven by a linear actuator, and the OPD value is four times the displacement of the MDSM without tilt. The effect of tilt of the MDSM is analyzed, and the tilt tolerance of the MDSM is systematically analyzed by means of modulation depth and phase error. The MDSMI is very suitable for high-resolution rapid-scan infrared spectrometers.     

Simultaneous measurement of curvature and temperature based on PCF-based interferometer and fiber Bragg grating

A sensor head consisting of a photonic crystal fiber (PCF)-based Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) and a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated for simultaneous measurement of curvature and temperature. The MZI fabricated by splicing a short length of PCF between two single-mode fibers with the air-hole structure that completely collapsed near the splicing points, is sensitive to fiber bending and surrounding temperature, while the FBG is only sensitive to the later. Simultaneous measurement of curvature and temperature is therefore obtained. Sensitivities of 4.06 nm/m^− 1 and 6.30 pm/°C are achieved experimentally for curvature and temperature, respectively. And the corresponding resolutions are 5.2 × 10^− 4 m^− 1 and 1.25 °C for curvature and temperature, respectively, based on the wavelength measurement resolution of 10 pm.     

Two-colour laser excitation as a way to set an absolute energy scale in photodetachment-microscopy based electron spectrometry

A two-colour laser technique is developed for photodetachment microscopy, by means of microwave modulation of a CW single-mode dye laser. A phase modulation regime is achieved through an electro-optical LiNbO₃ crystal excited at the frequency 1.95 GHz. The two first sidebands created are selected by rejection of the other orders through a plane Fabry-Perot interferometer. With the resulting two-colour radiation, the photodetachment microscopy technique is applied to a beam of ³²S⁻ ions. It is shown that the superposition of the two resulting interference patterns can be used as a ‘spectral vernier’ to remove the uncertainty on the electric field and absolute energy scale. Without any initial assumption on the value F of the electric field in the laser-ion interaction region, a measure of F and of the electron affinity ^eA of Sulfur can be obtained. Putting 16 recordings of two-colour photodetachment interferograms together, with the only condition that F be the same for all experiments, one gets ^eA(³²S) = 16752.978(11) cm⁻¹, which is quite compatible, even though not as accurate, with the most recently recommended value ^eA(³²S) = 16752.9760(42) cm⁻¹. A proposal is made for going from an incoherent to a coherent two-colour photodetachment scheme, which would make photodetachment interferograms sensitive to a new degree of freedom.     

Full-field refractive index measurement with simultaneous phase-shift interferometry

Using the phenomenon of total internal reflection and a beam splitting device, a technique of simultaneous phase-shift interferometry is proposed for measuring the full-field refractive index. Because this method applies a beam splitting device that mimics the characteristics of beam splitting and phase modulation, four interferemetric images of various phase distributions can be simultaneously captured. Therefore, this setup can avoid errors caused by non-simultaneous capturing of images and offers the benefits of high stability, ease of operation, and real-time measurement. Furthermore, using the phenomenon of total internal reflection, the phase difference between p- and s-polarized light varies considerably with the refractive index of a tested specimen. This can substantially increase the measurement resolution. The feasibility of this method is verified using an experiment, and the measurement resolution can be higher than 3.65 × 10⁻⁴ RIU.     

Simultaneous measurement of strain and temperature with a long-period fiber grating inscribed Sagnac interferometer

A Sagnac interferometer with a long-period fiber grating (LPG) inscribed in the polarization-maintaining fiber (PMF) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated for simultaneous measurement of strain and temperature. Due to the different responses of the LPG and the Sagnac interferometer to strain and temperature, simultaneous measurement can be achieved by monitoring the wavelength shifts and the intensity changes of a resonance dip of the sensor setup. The experimental results show that the achieved sensitivities to strain and temperature are 6.4 × 10^− 3 dB/με and 0.65 nm/°C, respectively.