Simple birefringence measurement method for coated optical disks with a fixed incident angle ellipsometer

In a coated and laminated optical disk, only a reflectance method is available for oblique incidence retardation measurements to evaluate the birefringence in a polycarbonate substrate. I propose a simple measurement method that simultaneously measures both the lateral and vertical birefringence in a coated substrate. In this reflectance method, only two oblique incidence retardation values with a fixed incident angle are measured from the radial and the circumferential directions of the disk. Using the sum and the difference of these two retardation values, we can calculate both birefringences without any cumbersome curve-fitting procedure. This method can easily be introduced into the routine inspection for optical disk manufacturing.     

Simple autocollimation laser refractometer with highly sensitive, fiber-optic output

A simple autocollimation scheme for a laser refractometer with a highly sensitive, single-mode, fiber-optic output is described. It allows for the determination of the refractive index and dispersion of optical materials with an accuracy exceeding 10(-5), which is confirmed by both experimental and analytical investigations.     

Double buffered wide-range frequency measurement method for digitaltachometers

A new frequency measurement system suitable for a wide range of microprocessor-based applications is presented. The procedure used to calculate the frequency is based on the original double-buffered method. This new method utilizes both pulse counting, and measurement of the fractional pulse period during the fixed sampling time. The sampling time can be chosen to provide high accuracy and high resolution over a wide range of frequencies. Therefore, it is specially applicable in digital tachometers     

DMA transfer method for wide-range speed and frequency measurement

A frequency measurement method based on both pulse counting and time measurement during a constant sampling time is presented. The content of a free-running timer is transferred by a direct memory access (DMA) to a memory location after each rising edge of an input pulse, so the DMA transfer counter serves as a pulse counter. Several sources of measurement errors are discussed in detail. The DMA method is suitable for real-time speed control system with an integrated DMA controller     

Design of a lidar receiver with fiber-optic output

Design considerations for a coaxial lidar receiver are examined, including details of coupling to an optical fiber for transfer of return light to a remote detector box. Attention is concentrated on the influence of fiber position on return-light capture efficiency and dynamic range of the return signal. The effect of a central obstruction on short-range signals is included. The analysis is augmented with simulations of lidar receiver performance.     

Simple three-dimensional laser angle sensor for three-dimensional small-angle measurement

A simple three-dimensional (3D) laser angle sensor for 3D measurement of small angles based on the diffraction theorem and on ray optics analysis is presented. The possibility of using position-sensitive detectors and a reflective diffraction grating to develop a 3D angle sensor was investigated and a prototype 3D laser angle sensor was designed and built. The system is composed of a laser diode, two position-sensitive detectors, and a reflective diffraction grating. The diffraction grating, mounted upon the rotational center of a 3D rotational stage, divides an incident laser beam into several diffracted rays, and two position-sensitive detectors are set up for detecting the positions of +/-1st-order diffracted rays. According to the optical path relationship between the three angular motions and the output coordinates of the two position-sensitive detectors, the 3D angles can be obtained through kinematic analysis. The experimental results show the feasibility of the proposed 3D laser angular sensor. Use of this system as an instrument for high-resolution measurement of small-angle rotation is proposed.     

测量接触角的一种新方法

本文把图像处理技术引入接触角测量中，大大提高了接触角测量的精度。基于此所研制的接触角测量仪具有精度高、重复性好、操作简单、使用方便等一系列优点。     

A stereoscopic method for dihedral angle measurement

A new method is presented for the measurement of equilibrium dihedral angles in intergranular inclusions, and illustrated with pure copper containing 1 wt% lead. The method is based on the selective dissolution of inclusions visible along a polished metallographic section. Scanning electron microscopy stereo image pairs are then taken and processed so as to enable a three-dimensional digital reconstruction of the inclusion/matrix interface along each inclusion. Spherical caps describing the Cu/Pb interface over non-facetted orientations are then fitted to the measured digital inclusion envelope reconstructions. Knowing the center and radius of these spheres, the true dihedral angle of each specific inclusion can then be deduced with good precision.It is found that the true dihedral angle in the Cu/Pb alloy is not a unique function of temperature, reflecting the (known) anisotropy of high-angle grain boundary energy in copper.     

Analysis of the receiver response for a noncoaxial lidar system with fiber-optic output

The return signal of a noncoaxial lidar system with fiber-optic output is examined. The dependence of the overlap regions and the overlap factor of the system on the fiber diameter is calculated for several inclination angles between the laser beam and the optical receiver axes. The effect of central obstruction is included and both cases of Gaussian and quasi-Gaussian laser beam profiles are treated. The irradiance spatial distribution on the focal plane of the system is calculated and experimentally determined. Finally, an alignment procedure of the lidar system is described based on the comparison between the range-corrected lidar signal and the range-corrected exponentially attenuated Rayleigh backscattered coefficient.     

Simple modifications for stabilization of the finite point method

A stabilized version of the finite point method (FPM) is presented. A source of instability due to the evaluation of the base function using a least square procedure is discussed. A suitable mapping is proposed and employed to eliminate the ill‐conditioning effect due to directional arrangement of the points. A step by step algorithm is given for finding the local rotated axes and the dimensions of the cloud using local average spacing and inertia moments of the points distribution. It is shown that the conventional version of FPM may lead to wrong results when the proposed mapping algorithm is not used. It is shown that another source for instability and non‐monotonic convergence rate in collocation methods lies in the treatment of Neumann boundary conditions. Unlike the conventional FPM, in this work the Neumann boundary conditions and the equilibrium equations appear simultaneously in a weight equation similar to that of weighted residual methods. The stabilization procedure may be considered as an interpretation of the finite calculus (FIC) method. The main difference between the two stabilization procedures lies in choosing the characteristic length in FIC and the weight of the boundary residual in the proposed method. The new approach also provides a unique definition for the sign of the stabilization terms. The reasons for using stabilization terms only at the boundaries is discussed and the two methods are compared. Several numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the performance and convergence of the proposed methods. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Remote displacement measurement using a passive interferometer with a fiber-optic link

Remote displacement measurement is demonstrated using a Fabry-Perot cavity with a multimode optical fiber link. The sensing cavity modulates, as a function of its length, the spectrum of a light-emitting diode (LED). The light returns via the fiber and is analyzed by a tunable reference cavity. A closed-loop control causes the reference cavity to track the sensing cavity length within 2 x 10(-12) m. Displacement range is 2 x 10(-6) m. The reference cavity length is measured interferometrically, using a laser, to obtain the sensing cavity length. Advantages of this sensing technique include compatibility with multimode fiber-optic components, high immunity to optical losses, and large dynamic range.     

Optoelectronic neural system for processing the output data from a fiber-optic measuring network

The results of an investigation of an optoelectronic neural system for processing the output data from a distributed fiber-optic tomographic-type measuring network are reported. The processing system is based on the operation principle of an optical perceptron in which the interneuron coupling matrix is implemented using a collection of amplitude holograms recorded on a disk-shaped holographic carrier. It is shown experimentally that this system makes it possible to reconstruct to within 20% the spatial distribution functions of the physical quantity under investigation. Pis’ma Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 25, 65–70 (March 26, 1999)     

Influence of high temperatures on a fiber-optic probe for temperature measurement

The use of optical fiber in a temperature probe or sensor for optical pyrometry in the 100-1000 °C range is affected by the low thermal stability of classical fibers. We have studied the different sources of perturbations induced by exposure to high temperature. Two specific fibers especially suited for a high-temperature environment were tested and compared. Low (100 °C/min) and very fast (100 °C/s) fiber heating was performed to evaluate its influence on the guided flux and the induced error on temperature measurement. The metallic-coated fiber shows a reproducible temperature error that can be predicted. This important result permits the development of an uncooled fiber probe for temperature monitoring in high-temperature environments such as aerospace engines.     

Secondary-phase-modulation method for open-loop fiber-optic gyroscopes

A proposed method of secondary phase modulation for open-loop fiber-optic gyroscopes is examined in general terms. To detect the rotation rate of a system through a beat-frequency channel, we employ linearly combined signals with different frequencies for the optical phase modulation. We find that the proper combinations of the modulation frequencies can optimize the sensitivity of gyroscopes. With this method we can employ a high-frequency band for optical phase modulations while keeping relative a lower-frequency band of the detection channel. The theoretically derived result is experimentally confirmed by using a lithium-niobate (LiNbO(3)) optical phase modulator. We also discuss the combination setup with an optical integrated-circuit device and digital signal processing.     

双目立体视觉动态角度测量方法

为实现对大幅度动态摆角及运动过程中物体空间姿态角的在线测量,提出一种基于双目立体视觉技术的动态角度测量方法。通过标定好的双目系统实时跟踪采集被测物体的特征点图像,重建特征点的空间三维坐标,进而计算出待测物的动态摆角或空间姿态角。实验结果表明:该系统在测量摆角时示值误差为±0.02°,测量空间姿态角时示值误差为±0.12°,同时具有非接触的优点,适用于动态摆角的在线测量及运动物体的空间姿态跟踪。     

Simple method for minimax linear approximation of the transfer function of a measurement device

Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 3, pp. 19–21, March, 1992.     

Closed-loop phase stepping in a calibrated fiber-optic fringe projector for shape measurement

Active homodyne feedback control can be used to stabilize an interferometer against unwanted phase drifts introduced by, for example, temperature gradients. The technique is commonly used in fiber-optic sensors to maintain the fiber at its most sensitive (quadrature) position. We describe an extension of the technique to introduce stabilized, pi/2-rad phase steps in a full-field interferometer. The technique was implemented in a single-mode, fiber-optic interference fringe projector used for shape measurement and can be easily applied to other fiber- or bulk-optic interferometers, for example, speckle pattern and holographic interferometers. Fresnel reflections from the distal fiber ends undergo a double pass in the fibers and interfere at the fourth port of a directional coupler. The interference intensity (and hence phase) is maintained at quadrature by feedback control to a phase modulator in one of the fiber arms. Stepping between quadrature positions (separated by pi rad for light undergoing a double pass) introduces stabilized phase steps in the projected fringes (separated by pi/2 rad for a single pass). A root-mean-square phase stability of 0.61 mrad in a 50-Hz bandwidth and phase step accuracy of 1.17 mrad were measured.