Laser diode feedback interferometer for stabilization and displacement measurements

Active laser diode interferometers in which the interference signal is fed back to the diode current are investigated for Twyman-Green and self-coupling interferometers. The Twyman-Green interferometer is stabilized with a stabilization factor of more than 100. By using the feedback signal of either type of interferometer, displacement is measured in a linear scale over a dynamic range of 8-9,microm with a precision of 10-60 nm. The feedback signal vs displacement shows hysteresis and multistable behavior, in accordance with theoretical results.