Lissajous figures in the application of micro-vibration measurement

Based on Michelson interferometer and phase generated carrier (PGC) homodyne demodulation technique, an optical interferometer system is built, and a novel method using the central angles of Lissajous figures to measure micro-vibration displacement is proposed. The Lissajous figures are obtained by synthesizing two interferometric signals that their vibration directions are orthogonal and their intensities are equal. Through theoretical analysis, software simulation and experimental test, it is concluded that the central angles of Lissajous figures have a linear relationship with the phase modulation coefficients and the micro-vibration displacements when the phase modulation coefficients are small. So the micro-vibration displacements can be directly obtained by measuring the central angles of Lissajous figures. The method is simple and convenient. The experimental results indicate that the micro-vibration displacements measuring range can reach 5-775 nm, with a resolution of about 5 nm.