Calibration of linear encoders with sub-nanometer uncertainty using an optical-zooming laser interferometer

The nonlinear errors of high-precision linear encoders were calibrated by using a nanometer-length calibrator that was based on the optical-zooming laser interferometer with an optical frequency comb. A transmission-type linear encoder and a reflection-type linear encoder were calibrated, and the cyclic nonlinear errors were evident. The magnitudes of the observed cyclic errors were 0.1 nm and 0.2 nm, respectively, and the best calibration uncertainties were 0.55 nm (k = 2). A traceable calibration service for linear encoders with the best calibration uncertainty in the sub-nanometer range has started based on this work.     

Improvement and validity of shock measurements using heterodyne laser interferometer

The improvement and validity of shock measurements using only the laser head (heterodyne laser interferometer) of a commercial laser Doppler vibrometer was investigated by comparing acceleration waveforms measured by a homodyne laser interferometer with those measured by a heterodyne laser interferometer. The acceleration waveforms were generated from the displacement waveforms obtained with a reference quadrature homodyne laser interferometer by applying a numeric differentiation process twice. The differences between the two acceleration waveforms were found to be small with the measurement uncertainty in case of high acceleration level. In a further investigation, the accuracy of the shock measurements taken by the homodyne and heterodyne laser interferometers were compared in computational simulation. The results indicated that the accuracy of the heterodyne laser interferometer was superior to that of the homodyne laser interferometer.     

Optoelectronic phase delay measurement for a modified Michelson interferometer

For the primary calibration of the phase response of accelerometers, the knowledge of the response delay of the reference, i.e. the laser interferometer is a decisive prerequisite. However, an experimental determination of the interferometric response time is not a simple task.     

Validation of a single fibre-fed heterodyne laser interferometer with nanometre uncertainty

In this paper the validation of a fiber-fed heterodyne laser interferometer with nanometre uncertainty is presented. The achievable displacement measurement uncertainty is investigated for different polarisation maintaining fibres used in these interferometers. Measurement results are shown for both a range of m as well as a range of 300 mm. It is shown that a (selected) PM-fibre with an extinction ratio of 1:1650 and the use of an external reference allows realising a fibre-fed laser interferometer able to measure displacements with the same uncertainty as a laser interferometer system without fibre. Tests were performed with fibres ranging in length up to 50 m.     

A 10 mm measuring machine based on a compensated laser interferometer

A single-axis measuring microscope has been constructed for the calibration of stage micrometers, micrometer microscopes and similar devices which require uncertainties down to 0.1 μm. The instrument is built from modules so that the interferometer measuring unit can be used in a variety of calibration tasks. A single mode optical fibre can be used to couple the laser source to the interferometer     

Compact and inexpensive iodine-stabilized diode laser system with an output at 531 nm for gauge block interferometers

A compact and inexpensive iodine-stabilized diode laser system with an output at 531 nm has been applied to long gauge block measurements. Although the optical frequency of the output beam was widely modulated (modulation width of ∼22 MHz), the coherence length and interference phase stability are sufficiently long and high, respectively, for the interferometric measurement of long gauge blocks of up to 1000 mm in length. The effective uncertainty of laser frequency in the interferometric measurement was theoretically and experimentally confirmed to be less than 10⁻⁹.     

双频激光干涉仪中的数字相位计设计

基于Altera公司FPGA芯片,提出了一种基于双频激光干涉仪系统中数字相位计的实现方法。该相位计用于测量系统中被测信号和参考信号之间的相位差角度,间接测量激光干涉仪的光程差信息。被测信号经过光电接收器以及A/D模数转换成数字信号送到FPGA芯片中,与FPGA内建的查找表参考信号做正交相关法解调运算,得到一组X-Y值,再利用CORDIC算法计算arctan函数获取相位差,最后计算出干涉仪的光程差,算法的全过程使用FPGA硬件实现。实验结果表明,该相位计使双频激光干涉仪的相位差测量精度在0.01°以内。     

Real-time displacement measurements with a Fabry-Perot cavity and a diode laser

We present the basic operating principles of a traceable measurement system suitable for use with atomic force microscopes (AFMs) and nanometer-resolution displacement sensors. Our method is based upon a tunable external-cavity diode laser system which is servo-locked via a phase-modulated heterodyne locking technique to a Fabry-Perot interferometer cavity. We discuss mechanical considerations for the use of this cavity as a displacement metrology system and we describe methods for making real-time (sub 10 ms sampling period) measurements of the optical heterodyne signals. Our interferometer system produces a root-mean-squared (RMS) displacement measurement resolution of 20 pm. Two applications of the system are described. First, the system was used to examine known optical mixing errors in a heterodyne Michelson interferometer. Second, the Fabry-Perot interferometer was integrated into the Z axis of a commercial AFM scanning stage and used to produce interferometer-based images of a 17 nm step height specimen. We also demonstrate atomic resolution interferometer-based images of a 0.3 nm silicon single atomic step-terrace specimen.     

半导体激光干涉仪在信号倍频处理中的应用

半导体异质结激光器在注入的电流发生变化时 ,输出激光的光频也随之改变。适当地设计干涉仪的参数 ,可检测这种变化。提出了可将干涉仪设计为信号倍频器及调制器 ,通过实验给出了分析方法与结论     

Calibration of laser Doppler vibrometer and laser interferometers in high-frequency regions using electro-optical modulator

We proposed a new primary calibration method of a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) using the optical modulated excitation of an electro-optical modulator and validated this approach by comparing mechanical modulated excitation with homodyne laser interferometer at the National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ). The velocity sensitivity of the LDV was evaluated with the uncertainty budget at a high-frequency range up to 1 MHz, which is indicated as the upper limit of 50 kHz in ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 16063–41. As the results, we confirmed that velocity sensitivities between optical and mechanical modulated excitations are flat within their uncertainty from 100 Hz up to 1 MHz. Moreover, in order to evaluate the accurate phase shift of the accelerometer up to 20 kHz using optical modulated excitation, we also revealed the reliability of two time shifts between homodyne and heterodyne laser interferometers.     

快速调整激光干涉仪光线准直系统的设计

使用激光干涉仪能够很好地解决数控机床定位精度差的问题,然而调整激光器的方向,使激光束与所测机床轴的移动方向平行是一项很重要而且麻烦的工作。为快速准确调整激光器方向,在对激光干涉仪工作原理深入研究的基础上,分析了激光束偏心的原因,构建了以PLC为控制核心,驱动两台电机控制干涉仪平移与旋转运动,实现快速调整激光干涉仪激光束准直。实验结果表明,此设计节省了大量人力、时间的开支,能够控制干涉仪快速对准,具有工业应用推广价值。     

利用三光束激光干涉仪评估纳米平台的移动性能

纳米位移传感器多集成在纳米平台的平行移动柔性机构中,通过闭环控制回路来实现纳米级的平台移动精度,本文介绍了利用具有亚纳米分辨率的三光束单频激光干涉仪校正纳米级电容式线性移动平台位移的工作,阐述了校正测试系统的布局以及线位移和角度位移的校正测试原理.通过实验成功地对移动线位移320 μm的纳米平台进行了校正,实验数据表明...     

激光干涉仪引力波探测器的基本光学结构

引力波是爱因斯坦广义相对论的重要预言,引力波探测是当代物理学最重要的前沿领域之一。以引力波探测为基础的引力波天文学是一门新兴的交叉科学,是对传统电磁辐射天文学的巨大拓展与补充。作为一种大型的精密光学仪器并作为引力波天文学研究的关键设备,激光干涉仪引力波探测器已在世界各地蓬勃发展起来,开辟了引力波探测的新时代。给出了激光干涉仪引力波探侧器的工作原理和基本光学结构,讨论了主要的性能参数,分析了光学镜的结构特点及测量方法。     

Phase-measuring algorithm to suppress inner reflection of transparent parallel plate in wavelength tuning Fizeau interferometer

Optical thickness variation is a fundamental characteristic of transparent optical devices. When measuring this variation by using a wavelength-tuning Fizeau interferometer, the measurement accuracy depends on the phase-shifting algorithm being used. Therefore, the phase-shifting algorithm should compensate for any errors incurred during the measurement, including the phase-shift error, coupling errors, and bias modulation of intensity. Among these errors, however, the coupling errors between the higher harmonics resulting from the inner reflections of the transparent plate and phase-shift error have not previously been considered. This paper presents a derivation of a 19-sample phase-shifting algorithm that can compensate for the miscalibration and 1st-order nonlinearity of the phase shift, coupling errors, and bias modulation of intensity during wavelength tuning. The characteristics of the 19-sample algorithm were estimated with respect to the Fourier representation in the frequency domain. The phase error of measurements performed using the 19-sample algorithm was discussed and compared with that of measurements obtained using other conventional phase-shifting algorithms. Finally, the optical thickness variation of a fused silica parallel plate was obtained using a wavelength-tuning Fizeau interferometer and the 19-sample algorithm. The measurement accuracy was discussed by comparing the ripples in the crosstalk noise with those calculated using other phase-shifting algorithms. The experimental results indicated that the optical thickness variation measurement accuracy for the fused silica plate was approximately 2 nm.     

A method for evaluating spindle rotation errors of machine tools using a laser interferometer

This paper presents a method for assessing radial and axial error motions of spindles. It uses the Hewlett Packard 5529A laser interferometer. The measurement is made using reflection directly from a high-precision sphere. Such object is used as the optical reflector. The sphere is affixed at the end of a wobble device, which is clamped in the spindle. The principle of measurement is similar to that of a linear interferometer, except that the high-precision sphere is used in place of the usual retroreflector. A convergent lens is utilized to focus the laser beam to a small spot on the sphere surface. This minimizes the dispersion of the beam due to the reflection on the spherical surface. A software package has been developed for data acquisition and presentation of the error motion polar plots of the spindle. Application of this spindle error calibrator on a CNC machining centre is undertaken. The results are presented and discussed.     

雷尼绍与多普勒激光干涉仪测量方法比较

介绍了雷尼绍激光干涉仪和多普勒激光干涉仪的测量原理,并对这两种激光干涉仪的测量方法进行了比较。结果表明,当只需要测量机床的线性定位精度时,两者都比较适合。当需要测量机床的所有几何误差时,由于多普勒激光干涉仪采用了激光向量技术,测量周期大大缩短,测量效率较高。     

Self-detection characteristics of the Sagnac frequency shift in a mechanically rotated semiconductor ring laser

Self-detection of the frequency difference between the two counter propagating oscillation frequencies in a mechanically rotated semiconductor ring laser (SRL) was successfully demonstrated. An SRL used for experiments consisted of a pig-tailed laser diode amplifier module. Detection characteristics of an SRL as an optical gyroscope were investigated and discussed. Beat frequency, which was detected by the terminal voltage change of an SRL without branching the circulating optical power, was measured as a function of the rotation rate, changing the loop radius for investigating the loop radius dependence on the detection sensitivity. The measured detection sensitivity characteristics coincided well with the theoretical prediction based on the Sagnac effect, and it was found that SRLs could be operated as optical gyroscopes. Furthermore, we verified that lock-in phenomenon was one of the most dominant noise sources in the S-RLG.     

Geometric error calibration of multi-axis machines using an auto-alignment laser interferometer

This work will report the development and application of an auto-alignment laser interferometer system for the geometric error calibration of CNC multi-axis machines. The system is capable of a diagonal displacement measurement, where multiple machine axes are moved simultaneously, with automatic optic alignment. This capability provides a solution for quick evaluation of the overall volumetric error of a multi-axis machine tool. One application of the system is that the 21 geometric errors of a 3-axis machine can be quickly estimated from the displacement measurements of some determined diagonal lines in the working volume. Compared with a time of several days using a conventional laser interferometer system, it takes only 1 hour for the proposed system to complete the geometry calibration of a 3-axis machine. A method for the roll calibration of a vertical axis is also proposed and demonstrated in this work.     

International comparison of volume measurement for a 1 kg silicon sphere between KRISS and NMIJ

1 kg single-crystal silicon spheres are presently used as primary density standards in many countries. The absolute density of the spheres is determined from the measurements of their mass and volume in conformity with the definitions of the SI base units. Since the mass of the spheres is almost 1 kg, a mass comparison with the prototype of the kilogram can be performed with very low uncertainty. Absolute volume measurements for the spheres therefore have a crucial role in realizing a reliable density traceability system. To confirm the reliability of the volume measurement, the volume of a silicon sphere was measured independently using optical interferometers at the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS, Korea) and the National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ, Japan). An optical interferometer with an etalon scanning system was used at KRISS. On the other hand, an optical interferometer with an optical frequency scanning system was used at NMIJ. The volume was measured at 20 °C and 0 Pa, and the results are in agreement with each other within their uncertainties. Details of the two interferometers and the comparison results are described.     

Integration of a laser interferometer and a CMM into a measurement system for measuring internal dimensions

In order to improve the existing comparative procedure for calibrating internal dimensions, we have developed a new measurement set-up for traceable absolute measurements. It consists of a co-ordinate measuring machine (CMM) and a laser interferometer (LI). The LI serves as a traceable measurement system, while the CMM is only used as a guiding system for the measuring probe. Extended research focused on defining probe parameters such as diameter, bending and indentation, as well as probing head repeatability and other error sources. The final goal of the research was to determine uncertainty of measurement under existing laboratory conditions. The main outcomes of the research and final uncertainty of measurement are presented in this article.