Fiber-optic backreflectance method for determining the effective focal lengths of optical elements

An alternative and simple fiber-optic backreflectance method for indirectly determining the effective focal lengths of optical elements by the spatial location of three specific points (the focal point and two object points) is presented. The basic optical element of the method is the single-mode optical fiber. It serves simultaneously as a point light source, an object for projecting, and a point receiver that is highly sensitive to spatial displacements for focused backreflectance laser emission. The method provides high accuracy for both locating the spatial points (1 µm) and determining the effective focal length (less than 0.5%).