用于检测激光棒的变倾角马赫-曾德尔干涉仪

为实现激光棒透射波前的测量,改善一般泰曼型或斐索型干涉仪测量小口径激光棒透射波前时的边缘衍射效应,研究了一种变倾角移相马赫-曾德尔干涉仪。通过调整移相反射镜的倾斜姿态,改变入射到马赫-曾德尔干涉光路的光束倾角,参考光束与测试光束的光程差随之变化,从而在相干光之间引入相移,实现了相移干涉测量。利用该干涉仪测量一根口径为Ф6 mm、长度为60 mm激光棒(Nd:YAG)的透射波前,测量结果的峰谷值(PV)为0.391λ,均方根值(RMS)为0.056λ;使用ZYGO激光干涉仪测量同一根激光棒,其透射波前的峰谷值(PV)为0.370λ,均方根值(RMS)为0.064λ。对比结果表明该干涉仪能实现光学元件透射波前的高精度检测,测试结果的一致性验证了该方案的可行性。该变倾角移相方法具有较高的移相精度和较大的移相范围,且该变倾角干涉系统中光束仅一次透过待测激光棒,可有效抑制多光束干涉现象,改善小口径激光棒的边缘衍射效应。     

Differentiating optical-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer

We introduce a new type of optical-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer whose output depends on phase differentials or the time rate of change of the unknown phase-modulating signal. Whereas the actual phase excursion introduced by the signal could cause interference over several fringes in a conventional Mach-Zehnder interferometer, the differential phase shifts may be restricted to the linear range of the phase detector. Being of simple construction, the interferometer can be operated without active biasing, additional phase modulation, or complex signal-processing techniques. We analyze a prototype architecture to explain the principle of operation of the system and to derive design formulas. This is followed by experimental evaluation of a more practical configuration.     

A phase-conjugate Twyman-Green interferometer with increased sensitivity for laser beam collimation

Abstract

A Twyman-Green interferometer having a phase-conjugate mirror in one arm and double mirror in another arm is described to measure divergence and to check the collimation of a laser beam. It uses an internally self-pumped phase conjugation in BaTiO₃ crystal as phase-conjugate mirror. The use of double mirror gives a dual interference field which results in improved sensitivity in collimation testing. The dual-field interferogram is also useful in easily distinguishing between the divergent and convergent nature of the test beam. Measurement results are presented.     

Modified white-light Mach-Zehnder interferometer for direct group-delay measurements

A modified white-light Mach-Zehnder interferometer based on a single beam splitter is described for direct group-delay measurements. The arms of the interferometer are folded in such a manner that a single beam splitter can be used to split the incoming beam and combine the outgoing beams. This method offers a twofold advantage: The measuring range of the interferometer is twice as large as that of the Michelson interferometer, and the systematic error that is associated with the beam splitter is minimized because of the configuration. We report the results of measurements on various optical components performed in the 555-630-nm spectral region and propose a scheme for the processing of the experimental data. We present a comparison of the data analyzed by the proposed processing scheme along with the theoretical calculations.     

Polarization characterization of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer

Polarization characterization of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, based on the state of polarization (SOP) and power measurement at the interferometer output, is presented. We study the SOP and degree of polarization (DOP) of the output light, first as a function of the light power in each arm of the interferometer for a fixed input SOP and DOP, and second as a function of the SOP's in each arm of the interferometer for a fixed input power. Stokes formalism and the Poincaré sphere are used for simultaneous representation of the SOP and DOP, as well as their evolution. It is shown that the SOP and DOP stability and also the output light power are highly dependent on the light source coherence. Knowledge of these different parameters leads to configurations that allow simultaneous control of the SOP and DOP. We can hence realize a quasi-monochromatic nonpolarized light source, which is useful for the polarization-independent characterization of optical components.     

马赫-曾德尔干涉仪对大气后向散射的谱分析

论证了马赫-曾德尔干涉仪对532 nm/354.7 nm大气后向散射的频谱分析性能。马赫-曾德尔干涉仪接收激光大气后向散射回波,通过测量双臂光路、正交偏振、四通道结构形成的干涉相位差和干涉对比度,计算大气的多普勒频移,以及大气气溶胶后向散射与气体分子后向散射的比值;发射脉冲激光器及其倍频器可以直接工作在多纵模状态下,大气的后向散射的频谱分析器可以不必与发射光中心频率锁定;给出同时探测大气的后向散射比分布廓线及大气风速的分析方法。马赫-曾德尔干涉仪作为大气后向散射的频谱分析器,若应用于高光谱分辨率激光雷达中,将成为一个性能优秀、前景广阔的大气分析装置。     

Harmonic phase-dispersion microscope with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer

Harmonic phase-dispersion microscopy (PDM) is a new imaging technique in which contrast is provided by differences in refractive index at two harmonically related wavelengths. We report a new configuration of the harmonic phase-dispersion microscope in a Mach-Zehnder geometry as an instrument for imaging biological samples. Several improvements on the earlier design are demonstrated, including a single-pass configuration and acousto-optic modulators for generating the heterodyne signals without mechanical arm scanning. We demonstrate quantitative phase-dispersion images of test structures and biological samples.     

Temporal coupled-mode theory of ring-bus-ring Mach-Zehnder interferometer

The temporal coupled-mode theory (TCMT) for a ring-bus-ring Mach-Zehnder interferometer device is developed by taking energy conservation into account. The intercavity interaction in the device is facilitated via a tricoupler, which makes the decay of modes quantitatively different from that in other existing resonator schemes. The TCMT is related to the transfer matrix formalism with energy conservation and the Q factor, and it predicts results in good agreement with the experimental results. The mode analysis from the TCMT is quite illustrative because it can mimic the transparency as an electromagnetically induced transparency expression. The analysis of the tricoupler is applicable for analyzing the transparent resonance in two other similar configurations.     

Simulation of the initial tuning of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer

A phase difference equation is obtained describing the interference pattern of the initial tuning of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer on the basis of simulating the mutual orientation of wave fronts. The effect of parameters on this tuning is analyzed. A procedure is suggested for computing interferograms for any initial tuning. __________ Translated from Izmeritel’naya Tekhnika, No. 9, pp. 30–33, September, 2006.     

Production of high-order Bessel beams with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer

A new experimental setup is demonstrated to produce high-order Bessel beams. It is based on the field decomposition of the Bessel beam into its even and odd field components. The implementation is performed over the spectral components with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer that synthesizes the components into the desired Bessel beam. The main advantage of our setup is that the required annular transmittances have only discrete phase changes of pi radians instead of a continuous change of phase.     

Fringe-imaging Mach-Zehnder interferometer as a spectral analyzer for molecular Doppler wind lidar

The theoretical performance of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer used as a spectral analyzer for wind-speed measurement by direct-detection Doppler lidar is presented. The interferometer is optimized for the measurement of wind velocity from the signal that is backscattered by the molecules. In the proposed fringe-imaging Mach-Zehnder (FIMZ) interferometer, a pattern of equally spaced linear fringes is formed and detected by two conventional detector linear arrays. Assuming a pure molecular signal with Gaussian spectral profile, an analytic expression for the standard deviation of the measurement error is obtained and compared with the Cramer-Rao lower bound given by an ideal spectral analyzer (ISA) in the case of shot-noise-limited signal. The FIMZ measurement error is shown to be 2.3 times that of the ISA and is comparable with the error given by previously developed multichannel spectral analyzers that are based on Fabry-Perot interferometers that, in contrast, have the disadvantages of producing unequally spaced circular fringes and requiring dedicated detectors. The optimal path difference for a FIMZ operating at 355 nm is approximately 3 cm. The interferometer is shown to match important lidar beam étendues without significant performance reduction.     

Wind-velocity lidar measurements by use of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, comparison with a Fabry-Perot interferometer

We present the first wind-velocity profiles obtained with a direct-detection Doppler lidar that uses a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) as spectral discriminator. The measurements were performed in the lower stratosphere, between 10 and 40 km in altitude, at the Observatoire de Haute Provence (OHP), France, during nighttime. They are in excellent agreement with those obtained simultaneously and independently with the already validated double Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) of the OHP Doppler lidar (mean difference lower than the combined standard deviation). A statistical analysis shows that the random error obtained with this experimental MZI is 1.94 times the Cramer-Rao lower bound and is approximately half of that given by the FPI (both operating in photometric mode). Nevertheless, the present MZI measurements are sensitive to the presence of atmospheric particles and need an additional correction, whereas the OHP FPI is designed to be insensitive to particulate scattering.     

M-Z干涉仪调Q的光谱研究

光纤M-Z干涉仪是由两个3dB耦合器构成,将此干涉仪放到激光腔中通过调节其干涉状态就可以相应地调制激光腔的损耗,发挥Q开关的作用。从理论上模拟了M-Z干涉仪输出光强随相位差的改变而发生平移,并在实验中验证了这一特性,证明理论模拟的特性与实验基本符合。     

Mach-Zehnder interferometer for piston and tip-tilt sensing in segmented telescopes: theory and analytical treatment

A study is presented of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer for the measurement of phasing errors of the type found in segmented telescopes. We show that with a pinhole much larger than the Airy disk and an optical path difference between the arms equal to a quarter of the wavelength, the interferometric signal is related to the second derivative of the wave front. In this condition the signal is produced mostly by the segmentation errors and is marginally sensitive to other aberrations including atmospheric turbulence. The signal has distinguishable symmetric and antisymmetric properties that are related to segment aberrations. We suggest using the antisymmetric component of the signal to retrieve piston, tip, and tilt. The symmetric component of the signal serves as an estimate of the measurement error. In this way we proceed with a study of the errors associated with the misalignment of the interferometer, the segment edge imperfections, and the nonaveraged atmospheric perturbations. The entire study is performed on a theoretical basis, and numerical simulations are used to cross check the analytical results.     

Modified double-wedge-plate shearing interferometer for collimation testing

A modified configuration of the double-wedge-plate shearing interferometer for collimation testing is described. Results of the measurements to determine the setting sensitivity with this configuration are presented.     

Multiple-beam wedge-plate shear interferometer for collimation testing

We describe a modification of the wedge-plate shear interferometer for collimation testing. The surface of the wedge plate is coated to increase the reflectivity such that multiple-beam interference takes place resulting in sharp fringes. In addition to sharpening the fringes also tend to split when the test beam is noncollimated. This splitting has been used as a test criterion for collimation testing. Experimental results are presented.