Precision ranger for measuring large mechanical components

We present a precision laser ranger system for the measurement of large manufactured components and structures. The system was developed based on a beat-wave interferometry principle. The light source of this system is a frequency-stabilized laser with a frequency stability of 1 x 10(-7) (in open air) or 10(-8) (in the laboratory). The laser operates in two longitudinal modes, and the two modes are generated in common resonator; therefore the two beams are naturally coaxial. The precision ranger system does not need a long guide or any heavy machinery. In this system an adaptive filter and a wavelet-transform program are used to improve the measurement accuracy. The system described here has a measuring range of 0-20 m and a measuring uncertainty of 30 microm/10 m.     

White-light fiber-optic intermode interferometer

An interferometric system with a low-coherence light source and two multimode fiber-optic light guides operating in an intermode interference regime is considered theoretically. It is shown that the employment of fiber-optic intermode interferometers significantly expands the range of permissible mismatch between the lengths of the reference and signal interferometers. Mismatch up to a few centimeters is possible for light-emitting diodes (LED’s). The use of multimode light guides and intermode interference facilitates the construction of systems with fibers of great length and matching to an optical source. Pis’ma Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 25, 44–50 (June 26, 1999)     

Thermal noise from optical coatings in gravitational wave detectors

Gravitational waves are a prediction of Einstein's general theory of relativity. These waves are created by massive objects, like neutron stars or black holes, oscillating at speeds appreciable to the speed of light. The detectable effect on the Earth of these waves is extremely small, however, creating strains of the order of 10(-21). There are a number of basic physics experiments around the world designed to detect these waves by using interferometers with very long arms, up to 4 km in length. The next-generation interferometers are currently being designed, and the thermal noise in the mirrors will set the sensitivity over much of the usable bandwidth. Thermal noise arising from mechanical loss in the optical coatings put on the mirrors will be a significant source of noise. Achieving higher sensitivity through lower mechanical loss coatings, while preserving the crucial optical and thermal properties, is an area of active research right now.     

Thermal lens micro optical systems

This paper describes two types of miniaturized thermal lens optical systems that use optical fibers, SELFOC microlenses and light sources. The first system consists of a compact diode pumped solid-state laser (532 nm) as an excitation light source, a laser diode (635 nm) as a probe light source, an acoustoptic modulator as an excitation light modulator, fiber-based and conventional optics, and a detection system that combines a pinhole, an interference filter, and a photodiode. The second system consists of two laser diodes as the excitation (658 nm) and probe (780 nm) light sources, fiber-based optics, and the same detection system as the first one. The performance of the two systems was evaluated by the limit of detection (LOD) using standard solutions of sunset yellow (SY) and nickel(II) phthalocyaninetetrasulfonic acid tetrasodium salt (NiP). The LODs of the first system for SY and second system for NiP were calculated to be 3.7 x 10(-8) (1.7 x 10(-6) AU) and 7.7 x 10(-9) M (3.4 x10(-6) AU), respectively. These results were consistent with the expected values obtained from photothermal parameters.     

Resolving quadrature fringes in real time

In many interferometers, two fringe signals can be generated in quadrature. The relative phase of the two fringe signals depends on whether the optical path length is increasing or decreasing. A system is developed in which two quadrature fringe signals are digitized and analyzed in real time with a digital signal processor to yield a linear, high-resolution, wide-dynamic-range displacement transducer. The resolution in a simple Michelson interferometer with inexpensive components is 5 x 10(-13) m Hz(-1/2) at 2 Hz.     

一种新型全光纤弹速测量系统的研制

研制了一种新型的利用激光光束反射原理的全光纤弹速测量系统。该系统采用了全光纤结构和光纤耦合器等无源器件,以输出光功率1mW, 工作波长1300nm的半导体激光器作为测试系统的光源,用光纤耦合器进行分光,实现了在一根光纤中同时传输光源和接受目标反射的信号光,避免了复杂的调节和准直过程。该系统结构简单、可靠性高,利用它,成功地测量了霍普金森杆发射的子弹速度,结果表明其速度测量相对不确定度小于1%。     

Optical frequency standard based on cold Ca atoms

An optical frequency standard (/spl lambda/=657 nm) based on cold neutral Ca atoms released from a magnetooptical trap has been realized. Systematic contributions to the uncertainty resulting from the residual velocity of the atoms and the acceleration in the gravitational field are determined and reduced by using a combination of different atom interferometers. With the uncertainty for the effect of cold collisions reduced and an AC Stark shift eliminated, the relative uncertainty in the measured frequency of the Ca clock transition is reduced to 2/spl times/10/sup -14/. The application of a novel method for producing ultracold atoms showed the potential to further reduce the relative uncertainty to below 10/sup -15/.     

Achromatic interfero-coronagraph with two common-path interferometers in tandem

To attain deeper nulling for an extended incoherent star disk a scheme for an achromatic interfero-coronagraph, incorporating two common-path interferometers in tandem, is proposed. Analytical and numerical predictions of the performance, which are in reasonably good agreement, are presented. The predicted performance improvement, by using two interferometers in tandem, is demonstrated by a preliminary experiment. A star coronagraph based on the proposed technique has the possibility to reach a 10(-10) achromatic nulling contrast for an almost 10(-2) lambda/D effective source size.     

Lensacon

A diffractive optical element has been synthesized with laser phototechnology. It can transform a point source into a bright caustic (a light line) stretched along the optical axis. The element transforms a spherical wave into a conic and a point source in the object space to a ring structure in the image space. We investigated how the parameters of the light line (the length and the effective diameter) depend on the wavelength of the light source and the movement of the source along the optical axis. Also the interference field outside the caustic (Fresnel and Poisson fringes) was investigated. For an explanation of experimental data the geometrical theory of interferometers was used. The conditions for the appearance of fringes in white light are given. A device for rectilinear control of large tool beds and for centering machine components was manufactured. Experiments on determining the macroshape and the microshape of objects were performed.     

Role of beat noise in limiting the sensitivity of optical coherence tomography

The sensitivity and dynamic range of optical coherence tomography (OCT) are calculated for instruments utilizing two common interferometer configurations and detection schemes. Previous researchers recognized that the performance of dual-balanced OCT instruments is severely limited by beat noise, which is generated by incoherent light backscattered from the sample. However, beat noise has been ignored in previous calculations of Michelson OCT performance. Our measurements of instrument noise confirm the presence of beat noise even in a simple Michelson interferometer configuration with a single photodetector. Including this noise, we calculate the dynamic range as a function of OCT light source power, and find that instruments employing balanced interferometers and balanced detectors can achieve a sensitivity up to six times greater than those based on a simple Michelson interferometer, thereby boosting image acquisition speed by the same factor for equal image quality. However, this advantage of balanced systems is degraded for source powers greater than a few milliwatts. We trace the concept of beat noise back to an earlier paper.     

Optical low-coherence reflectometry based on long-period grating Mach-Zehnder interferometers

The optical low-coherent interferometric technology for long-period grating (LPG) Mach-Zehnder interferometers is described. By including the coupling and recoupling behaviors of a LPG pair, a numerical model is developed to analyze the output reflectogram of the system. The effects of the grating interval, grating length, grating strength, and light source on the output reflectogram have been comprehensively discussed, which reveals that the low-coherence reflectometry offers the capability of interrogating the multiplexed sensors based on LPG pairs. A comparison of the calculated and experimental results is presented, and an excellent agreement between the simulation and the measurement is shown.     

试析光干涉测量几何长度的相对不确定度极限

随着稳频激光和现代干涉仪的发展，光波波长在空气中的不确定性已成为限制用光学方法测量几何长度相对不确定度的主要因素。本回顾了现代干涉测长精度的提高；探讨了用Ｅｄｌｅｎ公式修正空气中波长及其在高精度实际应用中的限制，用折射率干涉仪修正空气中波长的技术关键和可达到的精度极限；最后介绍了在真空中测长的实用性以及可能达到的精度。     

参考级直流标准电压源自动校准系统

针对参考级直流标准电压源范围宽、指标高,校准流程复杂的问题,研制了一套基于程控低热电势开关矩阵的参考级直流标准电压源自动校准系统。介绍了系统的组成、低热电势开关矩阵的研制、参考级直流标准电压源的校准方法,并对系统进行了不确定度评估,经评定直流电压100V不确定度达到2×10^-6(k=2)。     

A calorimeter for μW level optical power transfer standard

A calorimeter which can measure microwatt-level optical power has been developed for an optical power transfer standard. It can measure the optical power of a light beam and can be used with optical fiber simply by attaching an adapter. This calorimeter sensor uses a compensative absorber to reduce the influence of pressure fluctuation and temperature variation in the measurement room and an ultra-low-noise preamplifier. With this calorimeter, the standard deviation of the measured value is in the range of 0.02-0.4% in 20-mW to 10-μW optical power measurements. An error evaluation for an optical power level of 10 μW yielded a two-sigma (two standard deviation) total uncertainty of 0.9%     

Measurement of a fiber-end surface profile by use of phase-shifting laser interferometry

We describe a laser interferometric system in which two objectives are used to measure surface profile on a connectorized fiber-end surface. By the use of the proposed illumination design a He-Ne laser as a point light source is transformed to an extended light source, which is beneficial to localize interference fringe pattern near the test surface. To obtain an optimal contrast of the interference fringe pattern, the flat mirror with an adjustable reflection ratio is used to suit different test surfaces. A piezoelectric transducer attached on the reference mirror can move precisely along the optical axis of the objective and permits implementation of four-step phase-shifting interferometry without changing the relative position between the CCD sensor and the test surface. Therefore, an absolutely constant optical magnification can be accurately kept to capture the interference fringe patterns resulting from a combination of light reflected from both the reference flat mirror and the test surface. The experimental result shows that surface profile on a fiber-end with surface features such as a small fiber diameter of 125 microm and a low reflection ratio of less than 4% are measurable. Measurements on a standard calibration ball show that the accuracy of the proposed setup is comparable with that of existing white-light interferometers and stylus profilometers.     

System for precise balancing and controlled unbalancing of fiber-optic interferometers

A system for accurate balancing and controlled unbalancing of the optical path difference in all-fiber optical interferometers is described. Interferometers with various arm lengths (1-30 m) and with initial optical path differences of as much as 1 cm have been successfully balanced within a 5-microm range. In addition, the proposed system allows for controlled unbalancing of arbitrary all-fiber optical interferometers with a precision better than 5 microm.     

Top notch design for fiber-loop cavity ring-down spectroscopy

Fiber-loop cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) is a highly sensitive spectroscopic absorption technique which has shown considerable promise for the analysis of small-volume liquid samples. We have developed a new light coupling method for fiber-loop CRDS, which overcomes two disadvantages of the technique: low efficiency light coupling into the cavity and high loss per pass. The coupler is based on a 45° reflective notch polished between 10 and 30 μm into the core of a large-core-diameter (365 μm) optical fiber, and allows for nearly 100% light coupling into the cavity, with a low loss per pass (<4%). The coupler has the additional advantage that the input and output light is spatially separated on opposite sides of the fiber. The detection sensitivity of a fiber-loop CRD spectrometer employing the new coupling method is established from ring-down measurements on aqueous rhodamine 6G (Rh6G) at 532 nm. The results are compared with data obtained using the same light source and detector, but a conventional bend-coupled small-core-diameter (50 μm) optical fiber loop. With our new coupler, a detection limit of 0.11 cm(-1) is found, which corresponds to detection of 0.93 μM Rh6G in a volume of only 19 nL. This is an improvement of over an order of magnitude on our bend-coupled small-core optical fiber results, in which a detection limit of 5.3 cm(-1) was found, corresponding to a detection of 43 μM Rh6G in a volume of 20 pL.     

Optical polarimetry for noninvasive glucose sensing enabled by Sagnac interferometry

Optical polarimetry is used in pharmaceutical drug testing and quality control for saccharide-containing products (juice, honey). More recently, it has been proposed as a method for noninvasive glucose sensing for diabetic patients. Sagnac interferometry is commonly used in optical gyroscopes, measuring minute Doppler shifts resulting from mechanical rotation. In this work, we demonstrate that Sagnac interferometers are also sensitive to optical rotation, or the rotation of linearly polarized light, and are therefore useful in optical polarimetry. Results from simulation and experiment show that Sagnac interferometers are advantageous in optical polarimetry as they are insensitive to net linear birefringence and alignment of polarization components.     

Material behavior uncertainty in the design of bonded systems – Part II: Exhaustive materials characterization and design guidelines

Uncertainties in the performance of engineering systems arise due to idealizations of geometry, material behavior, and loading history. Uncertainties in the geometry are often related to manufacturing processes, while the uncertainty in the material behavior often arises out of materials processing. In this two-part study, we analyze the effect of uncertainty in material behavior on the performance of bonded assemblies in general, but motivated by the example of a fiber-optic system. In the fiber-optic system, the motion of the surface emitting laser relative to the substrate (to which the laser is bonded) due to the viscoelsatic behavior of the bond epoxy causes a loss in the light coupled to the fiber. In the first part of the paper, we develop models to describe the shear displacement and the shear stress in bond layer of the fiber-optic assembly. In the second part, we characterize through extensive experimentation the uncertainty in the viscoelastic behavior of the bond epoxy and use it to develop guidelines for the design of the bonded system.     

Accurate measurement of interferometer group delay using field-compensated scanning white light interferometer

Interferometers are key elements in radial velocity (RV) experiments in astronomy observations, and accurate calibration of the group delay of an interferometer is required for high precision measurements. A novel field-compensated white light scanning Michelson interferometer is introduced as an interferometer calibration tool. The optical path difference (OPD) scanning was achieved by translating a compensation prism, such that even if the light source were in low spatial coherence, the interference stays spatially phase coherent over a large interferometer scanning range. In the wavelength region of 500-560 nm, a multimode fiber-coupled LED was used as the light source, and high optical efficiency was essential in elevating the signal-to-noise ratio of the interferogram signal. The achromatic OPD scanning required a one-time calibration, and two methods using dual-laser wavelength references and an iodine absorption spectrum reference were employed and cross-verified. In an experiment measuring the group delay of a fixed Michelson interferometer, Fourier analysis was employed to process the interferogram data. The group delay was determined at an accuracy of 1×10(-5), and the phase angle precision was typically 2.5×10(-6) over the wide wavelength region.