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.     

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.     

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.     

Sinusoidal phase-modulating laser diode interferometer insensitive to intensity modulation for real-time displacement measurement with feedback control system

In sinusoidal phase modulating laser diode (LD) interferometer, the injection current of the LD is sinusoidally modulated to realize the modulation of the wavelength. However, the light intensity of LD is also modulated, which affects the measurement accuracy. An all-fiber sinusoidal phase modulating LD interferometer for real-time displacement measurement is proposed where the influence of the intensity modulation is eliminated with a new algorithm. It is made clear that an optimal depth of the sinusoidal phase modulation (SPM) exists in the algorithm. Moreover, the SPM depth is locked at the optimal value by controlling the injection current with a feedback control system. The feasibility of the proposed interferometer for displacement measurement is verified by experiments.     

Grating Interferometer Using ± 1st Order Beams for Step-Profile Altitude Difference Measurement

We propose a grating interferometer for step-profile altitude difference measurement. There are two main characteristics in this interferometer. The first is that the intensity distribution of the interference pattern is independent of the wavelength of the laser-diode used. No change of the intensity distribution occurs when the wavelength fluctuates. The second is that the measuring range is much larger than the wavelength of the light source because the spatial period of the grating is much larger than the wavelength. Sinusoidal phase modulating interferometry is easily applied to detect the phase variation of the interference pattern by vibrating the grating sinusoidally. The thickness of a 3.5-inch disk is measured with an accuracy of less than 0.5 μm.     

Real-time micro-vibration measurement in sinusoidal phase-modulating interferometry

As there exist some problems with the previous laser diode (LD) real-time microvibration measurement interferometers, such as low accuracy, correction before every use, etc., in this paper, we propose a new technique to realize the real-time microvibration measurement by using the LD sinusoidal phase-modulating interferometer, analyze the measurement theory and error, and simulate the measurement accuracy. This interferometer utilizes a circuit to process the interference signal in order to obtain the vibration frequency and amplitude of the detective signal, and a computer is not necessary in it. The influence of the varying light intensity and light path difference on the measurement result can be eliminated. This technique is real-time, convenient, fast, and can enhance the measurement accuracy too. Experiments show that the repeatable measurement accuracy is less than 3.37 nm, and this interferometer can be applied to real-time microvibration measurement of the MEMS.     

一个新型的基于全光纤Mach-Zehnder干涉仪BOTDR系统

报道了新型的分布式传感测量布里渊光时域反射(BOTDR)系统.布里渊散射频移和强度均依赖于温度和应变,因此,BOTDR利用光纤中的自发布里渊散射作为测量信号可以实现分布式温度和应变测量.在BOTDR中,光源采用窄谱半导体激光器,并由声光调制器调制成脉冲光,经掺铒光纤放大器放大后,注入测试光纤以产生自发布里渊散射.利用双通Mach-Zehnder干涉仪分离光纤背向散射中的自发布里渊散射与瑞利散射信号,实现了自发布里渊散射的直接检测.实验结果表明基于全光纤Mach-Zehnder干涉仪BOTDR方案是可行的.     

相位调制激光多普勒频移测量方法的改进

本文对现有相位调制激光多普勒频移测量方法进行了改进,通过定义新的鉴频参量来同时利用相位调制信号直流和交流分量中的有用信息进行多普勒频移测量.由于相位调制信号直流分量中包含着调制信号光的Fabry-Perot干涉仪光强透过率,所以这一改进本质上是将基于Fabry-Perot干涉仪的边缘技术激光多普勒频移测量方法的优势引入到相位调制测量方法中,以提高其自身的性能.理论上证明改进后的相位调制激光多普勒频移测量方法无需对信号光的光强进行测量,所以可以进一步简化探测系统的结构和较少噪声混入的通道.另外,通过对改进前后鉴频和测量灵敏度曲线进行对比,还证明了其具有更高的测量灵敏度和动态范围.实验上对硬目标反射的频移可控信号光进行测量,不但证明了理论的正确性,而且证明了改进后的相位调制激光多普勒频移测量方法,测量动态范围提高约1倍,测量标准偏差降低约35%.     

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.     

用于微位移测量的笔束激光干涉仪

介绍了一种基于空间干涉原理的亚微米零差干涉位移测量方法。该方法是对笔束激光干涉仪在微位移测量领域的应用 ,干涉仪的测量精度不受光束波前畸变等光源噪声的影响。给出了干涉仪主要结构参数的选取原则 ;构建了用于微位移测量的笔束激光干涉仪实验系统。实验结果表明 ,该系统具有纳米测量分辨率。     

Wavelength dependence of the phase retardation of a quarter-wave plate

We describe an optical heterodyne polarization interferometer that can be efficiently used for the precision measurement of the change in the state of polarization of a light wave induced by polarizing optical devices. This technique is used to measure the change with wavelength of the phase retardation of a quarter-wave plate. A theoretical derivation is presented to permit computation of the wavelength dependence of the phase shift induced by a quarter-wave plate.     

光纤外差干涉位移传感器性能的提高

利用半导体激光器 (LD)、光隔离器、光纤定向耦合器、自聚焦透镜等组成双路光纤斐索型干涉仪。采用三角波电流调制 ,上、下边沿拍频信号差动鉴相的方法 ,提高了测量灵敏度和位移响应速度 ,增大了测量范围 ;利用辅助干涉仪检测系统的相位漂移 ,并对LD发光波长进行反馈控制 ,提高了系统的稳定性 ,实现了大测量范围、高分辨率、高精度位移测量。     

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.     

模拟大气风场及其数据处理技术的研究

热层大气风速的测量可以采用干涉法来进行,由于光源（气辉辐射谱线）的强度很弱,故干涉法对测量系统要求很高。利用半导体激光器（LD）的调制特性和法布里-帕罗干涉仪(FPI)的高光谱分辨能力设计了一种用简单设备进行大气风场模拟与测量的方法。改变LD的驱动电流使其输出激光频率改变,从而模拟气辉辐射的多普勒频移,通过分析FPI获得的干涉图可检测出该频移,进而得到等效风速。模拟风速的相对误差不超过6.5%,最小模拟风速为20.01m/s,且测量结果与LD的线性调制特性很相符。使用该方法可以有效地对多普勒风速测量原理、数据处理方法、系统性能以及测量误差进行分析和评估。     

Unambiguous measurement of surface profile using a Sagnac interferometer with phase feedback

The fringe profiles from a two beam interferometer with phase feedback are almost unambiguous over a range of 2π or more. This allows phase and therefore surface profile to be determined directly from output intensity of an interferometer. In this paper we describe how feedback can be applied to a polarisation Sagnac common path interferometer using a parallel aligned nematic liquid crystal spatial light modulator. Initial experiments have shown that the device is capable of measuring profiles to accuracies greater than one tenth of a wavelength.     

基于白光LED和LD的准直测量比较

为探究白光LED用于准直测量的可行性与优劣势,将其与LD的准直光束对比,进行功率和定位的长期稳定性以及不同空气扰动下的稳定性实验与分析.实验结果表明:在功率稳定性方面,LD开机预热后功率才能趋于稳定,长时间工作会因激光器发热而受到影响,而白光LED无需预热便能长时间保持稳定;在定位稳定性方面,白光LED产热少,由其作为热源引起系统结构的漂移明显小于LD;根据以空气中存在均匀温度梯度场为模型的理论分析和同一干扰下白光中不同波长成分的漂移量计算结果,发现在同样干扰下,波长越长,光束受影响程度越小,白光所受影响略大于LD,为不同波长不同强度光束的加权平均效果.最后,通过基准验证实验,比较两种准直光束对同一直线导轨直线度误差的测量结果,发现白光LED准直光束在传播过程中强度分布保持稳定.研究表明白光LED成本低、功率稳、发热少,适用于准直测量.     

点衍射干涉检测技术

本文介绍了点衍射干涉仪不同发展阶段的特点和应用。点衍射干涉仪由波长量级的针孔产生高质量的球面波作为参考波前,能够得到衍射极限性能的分辨率。按照不同的光路特点,点衍射干涉仪可分为点衍射共路干涉和点衍射非共路干涉两种结构,主要应用于高精度波前检测和面形检测。共路干涉结构简单紧凑,对环境振动不敏感,对光源相干度要求不高,可利用光束偏振态及光栅衍射分束的特性对传统点衍射板进行改造,在全共路点衍射干涉仪中引入时间相位调制技术和干涉对比度可调技术,可进一步提高波前检测精度。采用反射式针孔和各种光纤结构发展了非共路点衍射干涉仪,实现了大口径、高精度球面反射镜面形的测量。本文重点阐述了用于极紫外光刻投影物镜中高精度球面反射镜面形检测的反射式针孔点衍射干涉仪,并展望了点衍射检测技术在生物检测等领域的应用前景和发展趋势。     

Direct near-field phase measurement of laser diodes employing a single-mode fiber interferometer

A method of direct measurement of near-field phase and intensity distribution of laser diodes employing a single-mode fiber interferometer is proposed and demonstrated. The phase and intensity of the output beam of the laser in the vicinity of the output facet are measured directly via interferometry. Using a 980 nm laser diode as an example, we obtained a beam width of 0.9 and 3.6 μm at the output facet in the vertical and horizontal axes, respectively. In addition, the phase information of the output beam was also obtained by using interferometry. This technique is particularly useful for laser diodes whose near-field phases are difficult to measure directly. The measured vertical and horizontal wavefront radius of curvatures of a laser diode are in good agreement with the calculation from Gaussian beam theory. Detailed understanding and measurement of the near-field phase and intensity distributions of light sources and optical components are essential for micro-optic designs with better mode matching to minimize the insertion loss.     

基于光纤Bragg光栅位移测量的研究

介绍了一种基于布喇格光纤光栅技术的位移测量方法。利用宽带光源经不同的布喇格光栅得到一种由温度稳定器控制波长稳定性的合成光源。由于系统设计的合成光源波长比常规光源的波长长，所以允许的光程差测量范崮提高了几百倍，从而使得布喇格光纤光栅的波长准确性提高了干涉仪位移测量的准确性。此外，利用光外差法马赫一曾德尔干涉仪进行了位移测量实验，得到了很好的效果。     

一种完整测量膜片法拉第效应和损耗的方法

提出了一种能完整测量零锁区激光陀螺法拉第偏频组件中旋光膜片的法拉第旋光效应和超低损耗的方法和自动测量系统.该方法利用双光路正交分解平衡测量原理,通过测量两柬光光强平衡时起偏器的偏振方向来确定旋光膜片的法拉第转角和超低损耗.测量结果表明:系统对法拉第转角的测量分辨率小于0.9",损耗测量分辨率为10 ppm,环境温度的波动对法拉第转角的测量变化很小,但对膜片超低损耗测量影响很大,温度变化8.1 K,膜片损耗测量值变化一个周期.实验及结果证明,该系统能满足超高精度测量的要求.