Homodyne interferometric receiver and calibration method having improved accuracy and functionality
US5663793A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 5, 1995 |
| Grant date | Sep 2, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 5, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01J2009/0261
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method and system for measuring the phase difference between two orthogonally polarized components of a test beam as well as the intensities of these two components. A partially-polarizing beamsplitter (101) divides a polarized test beam (103) into first and second spatially-separated beams (154,104). The first beam (154) passes through a wave plate (160) oriented so as to retard the phase of the s polarization component with respect to the p polarization component. The first beam (154) then passes through a first polarizing beamsplitter (155), to produce a first pair of spatially separated output beams (156,157) with mutually-orthogonal linear polarizations. The second beam (104) is likewise passed through a second polarizing beamsplitter (105) to produce a second pair of linearly-polarized output beams (106,107). Photodetectors (108,109,158,159) send an electrical signals proportional to the intensities of the beams (106,107,156,157) to a computer (99). The computer (99) calculates the phase difference between the s and p polarization components of the test beam, as well as the relative intensities of the s and p polarization components of the test beam. The invention also prov…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.