Achromatic optical interferometer, of the trilateral shift type for analyzing the wave surface of a light beam
US5606417A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 16, 1994 |
| Grant date | Feb 25, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 16, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01J9/02
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A device for analyzing the wave surface of a light beam has an entry lens which defines a reference plane, optically conjugate with the plane in which the wave surface of the light beam is analysed. A bidimensional meshed lattice is placed in this reference plane, perpendicularly to the beam. The different sub-beams, due to the different orders of diffraction, are focused jointly by a first lens, in an intermediate focal plane, in the vicinity of which a mask selects, from the sub-beams, those which relate to at least three distinct orders of diffraction. A second lens takes the selected sub-beams to a nil-sensitivity plane, conjugate with the plane of the lattice. An interference image is observed in a working plane, situated at a chosen distance from the nil-sensitivity plane. The device can be characterized as an improved achromatic optical interferometer, of the trilateral shift type.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.