Detector for interferometric distance measurement
US7333214B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 31, 2006 |
| Grant date | Feb 19, 2008 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 20, 2026 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01B2290/70
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A detector for interferometric distance or displacement measurement. The detector may receive orthogonally polarized object and reference path output beams, which are directed to a polarization-sensitive beam deflecting element. The beam deflecting element deflects one or both orthogonally polarized beams to provide a desired divergence angle between the beams. The diverging beams are input to a mixing polarizer. The beams exiting the mixing polarizer are similarly polarized and therefore interfere. The interfering diverging beams form interference fringes. The spatial phase of the fringes relative to a photodetector array characterizes the phase difference between the object and reference beams of the interferometer.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.