Method and apparatus for optical interferometric measurements with reduced sensitivity to vibration
US5589938A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 10, 1995 |
| Grant date | Dec 31, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 10, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01B9/0209
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method and system for providing interferometric measurements having reduced sensitivity to vibrations. An interference pattern from an interferometer (35) is amplitude split into first and second interferograms and imaged onto first and second detectors (10,11), respectively, such as CCD cameras (10,11). The two cameras (10,11) have different data acquisition rates, such as a fast:slow camera ratio of at least 2:1, and are so disposed such that the image fields substantially overlap and are synchronized with each other so that the frame integration periods are identical and overlap in time. During data acquisition a phase shifter (45) changes the phase difference between the beams in the interferometer (35) while data from both cameras (10,11) is taken by a frame grabber (15) and saved in a computer (25). During data analysis, the phase at each image point on each frame of the fast data set is calculated by the computer (25), with the phase difference between interferograms in the slow data set being determined from the phases derived from the fast data set and with the slow data set then being analyzed for phase at each image point using the measured phase increments.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.