Measuring small wavelength differences by heterodyne interferometry and optical activity of chiral crystal

The optical activity of a chiral crystal and common-path heterodyne interferometry are used in a simple measurement technique that was developed to measure small wavelength differences. When circularly polarized heterodyne light passes through a chiral crystal, the plane of polarization rotates. The phase difference between the right- and left-circular lights is directly proportional to the angle of rotation. The rotation angle depends strongly on the wavelength. The phase difference can be accurately detected and substituted into specially derived equations to estimate wavelength variations. The feasibility of this method was demonstrated and the wavelength sensitivity was about 0.00812 nm. This method provides the advantages of a simple structure, ease of operations, a large wavelength measurement range and high sensitivity.     

Measurement of small displacement based on surface plasmon resonance heterodyne interferometry

This paper proposes an optical method for measuring small displacements using the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) heterodyne interferometry. A heterodyne light beam reflected by a mirror passes through a hemisphere glass and then enters into a surface plasmon resonance apparatus at the resonant angle. A small displacement of the mirror will introduce a phase-difference variation between p- and s-polarizations of the light emerging from the SPR apparatus. The phase-difference variation can be precisely measured with the heterodyne interferometric technique, and the associated displacement can be estimated. The feasibility of this method was verified by experiment, and the displacement measurement resolution of about 1.4 nm over a traveling range of 6 μm was achieved. Our method of measurement has the merits of both common-path interferometry and heterodyne interferometry.     

Phase measurements of a twisted nematic liquid crystal spatial light modulator with a common-path interferometer

We present a novel and high accuracy (±1°) technique for measuring the difference in phase delay between the positive and negative eigenvectors of a twisted nematic liquid crystal spatial light modulator (LCSLM) as a function of applied voltage. We show a new architecture for a common-path interferometer where we simultaneously generate both the positive and negative eigenvectors of the LCSLM. We use an electro-optic light modulator to provide a time varying phase shift between the two eigenvectors and measure the phase delay difference between the two eigenvectors. We compare the phase delay values with those obtained using a Mach–Zehnder interferometer and find good agreement.     

共路径光相干成像系统光纤探头的研究

本文提出了基于楔形光纤以及端面成角度光纤的共路径光相干成像系统探头,实现背向散射信号在其端部的共路径相位干涉,从而获得待测件断面成像信息.首先,建立了共路径光相干成像系统光路及探头相位干涉的理论模型,分析了各光纤探头尺寸与干涉信号强度、系统性能的关系.其次,分别设计出楔形光纤、端面成角光纤探头,开展了共路径光路干涉实验,搭建了工作波长为1 550 nm的共路径光路测试系统.然后,根据不同待测样品的散射率,设计并研制了不同角度的楔形光纤探头,分析了不同尺寸的光纤探头对系统性能的影响,针对不同样品开展了固定探头探测实验.实验结果表明,楔形光纤端部可直接对输出光聚焦,照射在被测样品上,且其端面成一定角度时,可调节输出分光比,实现对参考信号的调节,提高了系统信噪比.为进一步开展共路径光相干成像系统的研究奠定了基础.     

Practical common-path heterodyne surface profiling interferometer with automatic focusing

In modern semiconductor and optics industries, there is a strong demand for a highly sensitive and non-contact surface profilometer. This paper describes a practical heterodyne surface profiling interferometer for on-line non-contact measurement which has been developed recently. The essential feature of the profilometer is a newly designed common-path configuration to minimize the effects caused by vibration, air turbulence and other environmental variations. A single-mode frequency-stabilized laser diode (780 nm) serves as the light source to make the whole system compact (total volume 250L×200W×100H mm). A powerful signal processing scheme is also developed, which includes three parts: automatic voltage control, phase measurement with wide range and automatic focusing control. All these make the repeatability and stability of the profiling interferometer greatly improved. The system has vertical resolution of 0.39 nm and lateral resolution of 0.73 μm. During approximately an hour, the stability is within 1.95 nm(3σ).