Low-coherence vibration insensitive Fizeau interferometer

Brad Kimbrough; James Millerd; James Wyant; John Hayes

doi:10.1117/12.682956

14 August 2006 Low-coherence vibration insensitive Fizeau interferometer

Brad Kimbrough, James Millerd, James Wyant, John Hayes

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6292, Interferometry XIII: Techniques and Analysis; 62920F (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.682956
Event: SPIE Optics + Photonics, 2006, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

An on-axis, vibration insensitive, polarization Fizeau interferometer is realized through the use of a novel pixelated mask spatial carrier phase shifting technique in conjunction with a low coherence source and a polarization delay-line. In this arrangement, coherence is used to effectively separate out the orthogonally polarized test and reference beam components for interference. With both the test and the reference beams on-axis, the common path cancellation advantages of the Fizeau interferometer are maintained. The interferometer has the unique ability to isolate and measure any surface that is substantially normal to the optical axis of the cavity. Additionally, stray light interference is substantially reduced due to the source's short coherence. An expression for the fringe visibility on-axis is derived and compared with that of a standard Fizeau. Using a 15 mW source, the maximum camera shutter speed, used when measuring a 4% reflector, was 150 usec, resulting in very robust vibration insensitivity. We experimentally demonstrate the measurement of both sides of a thin glass plate without the need to modify the plate between measurements. Experimental results show the performance of this new interferometer to be within the specifications of commercial phase shifting interferometers.

Citation Download Citation

Brad Kimbrough, James Millerd, James Wyant, and John Hayes "Low-coherence vibration insensitive Fizeau interferometer", Proc. SPIE 6292, Interferometry XIII: Techniques and Analysis, 62920F (14 August 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.682956

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