Application of a synthetic extended source for interferometry

Area of Science:

• Optical Physics
• Metrology

Background:

• Coherent noise in interferometric measurements degrades data quality.
• Traditional extended sources can be complex to implement and may reduce interferogram contrast.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and evaluate a synthetic extended source (SES) for reducing coherent noise in interferometric measurements.
• To develop a model for quantifying measurement noise and validate SES performance.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing a fully coherent point source for data acquisition.
• Translating the point source along a defined trajectory to synthesize an extended source behavior.
• Averaging multiple measurements to reduce coherent noise.
• Developing a parametric model to assess noise from particle diffraction.

Main Results:

• The synthetic extended source (SES) effectively reduces coherent noise in interferometric measurements.
• Experimental results validate the developed parametric noise model and SES performance.
• High-contrast interferograms are preserved during data acquisition.

Conclusions:

• The SES provides a viable method for mitigating coherent noise in interferometry.
• The developed modeling approach accurately predicts noise and aids SES design.
• A practical SES implementation in a custom SPSI interferometer demonstrates its utility.