Dynamic phase-deforming interferometry: suppression of errors from vibration and air turbulence

Area of Science:

• Optical Engineering
• Metrology
• Interferometry

Background:

• Environmental factors like vibration and air turbulence significantly degrade interferometric measurement accuracy.
• Traditional interferometry struggles to maintain precision in dynamic or uncontrolled environments.
• Robust phase measurement techniques are crucial for advanced optical testing and metrology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel dynamic phase-deforming interferometry (PDI) technique.
• To address and mitigate the impact of environmental disturbances on interferometric measurements.
• To develop a high-precision, low-complexity, and fast phase measurement system.

Main Methods:

• Simultaneous acquisition of two interference passes (measurement pass and carrier-frequency pass) using a single detector.
• Fourier transform method for calculating relative deformation phases from carrier-frequency pass fringe patterns.
• Least squares method for phase extraction from the measurement pass to obtain the final phase distribution.

Main Results:

• PDI successfully provides high-precision phase measurements even under environmental vibration and air turbulence.
• The system demonstrates low complexity in its optical layout and phase-extraction algorithm.
• Experimental results confirm the method's capability for fast measurement speeds.

Conclusions:

• Dynamic phase-deforming interferometry is an effective solution for accurate phase measurement in challenging environments.
• The PDI technique offers a practical approach to overcome environmental noise in interferometry.
• The proposed method combines high precision with system simplicity and speed, making it suitable for various applications.