Absolute distance measurements by variable wavelength interferometry

This paper describes a laser interferometer which provides absolute distance measurements using tunable lasers. An active feedback loop system, in which the laser frequency is locked to the optical path length difference of the interferometer, is used to tune the laser wavelengths. If the two wavelengths are very close, electronic frequency counters can be used to measure the beat frequency between the two laser frequencies and thus to determine the optical path difference between the two legs of the interferometer.