Ellipse fitting for interferometry. Part 2: experimental realization

Area of Science:

• Optical physics
• Metrology
• Signal processing

Background:

• Extracting phase and amplitude from optical interferometer quadrature signals is crucial for measurements.
• Lissajous figures are used to visualize these signals, but accuracy is limited by ellipse fitting, particularly for high ellipticity.
• Existing ellipse fitting algorithms face challenges with accuracy, especially in demanding experimental conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To experimentally validate a novel, linear ellipse fitting algorithm for optical interferometer measurements.
• To demonstrate the practical application and improved accuracy of the new algorithm in real-world measurement scenarios.
• To address the limitations of traditional ellipse fitting methods for high ellipticity Lissajous figures.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a previously described novel linear ellipse fitting algorithm.
• Experimental application of the algorithm to various optical measurement problems.
• Comparison of results with existing ellipse fitting techniques to quantify performance improvements.

Main Results:

• The novel linear ellipse fitting method demonstrated superior performance in experimental settings.
• Significant improvements in accuracy were observed for optical interferometer measurements, particularly those involving highly elliptical Lissajous figures.
• The algorithm proved effective and reliable across several practical measurement applications.

Conclusions:

• The developed linear ellipse fitting algorithm offers a robust and accurate solution for extracting phase and amplitude information from optical interferometer signals.
• This method overcomes key limitations of previous approaches, enhancing the precision of optical measurements.
• The experimental validation confirms the algorithm's utility in practical scientific and engineering fields.