Thickness measurement of transparent glass plates using a lateral shearing cyclic path optical configuration setup...

We present a measurement technique to determine the thickness of a transparent glass plate (GP) by using a lateral shearing cyclic path optical configuration (CPOC) setup and polarization phase shifting interferometry (PPSI). In the technique, the GP introduces a longitudinal shift in the focus of the beam and, as a result, a spherical wavefront emerges from the lens, which is otherwise set for producing a collimated beam. Using CPOC, two laterally sheared orthogonally polarized beams are generated from the incident spherical wavefront. By applying PPSI, the slope of the optical path difference variation between the laterally sheared interfering beams is evaluated, and the radius of the spherical wavefront and the longitudinal shift of the beam focus are calculated. The thickness of the GP is determined from the standard relation between the longitudinal shift of the focus introduced by the GP and the thickness of the GP. Results obtained for a GP of 9.810mm thickness are presented.