Dynamic range enhancement of the roll angle displacement measurement with birefringence using a polarization camera.

A roll angle displacement measurement technique with high resolution for large-range measurement is presented. The proposed technique is based on the birefringence effect and phase detection of polarization interferometry with a polarization camera. The phase difference variation between the s- and p-polarized light induced by a rolling birefringent crystal can be obtained by a polarization camera. The roll angle displacement of the birefringent crystal can be determined from the detected phase difference variation. Several experiments were performed to evaluate the feasibility and performance of the proposed technique. The experimental results demonstrate that the resolution of the system can reach 0.003° with a 10° measurement range. The nonlinear and periodic errors of the system are also analyzed.

Measurement of the refractive index of lenses from the maximum phase difference of the total internal reflection with a polarization camera.

The proposed total internal reflection (TIR)-based technique can be used for measuring the refractive index of lenses. Distribution of the phase difference between the s- and p-polarization states of the reflected light induced by TIR can be obtained by a polarization camera. The refractive index of the lens can be determined from the detected maximum phase difference, with the specific measurement equation. Only the maximum phase difference needs to be measured. Information about the incident angle, thickness of the lens, and the matching liquid is not needed. The experimental results demonstrate that the resolution of the system can reach 4.8×10-4RIU.

Standing-wave interferometer based on single-layer SiO2 nano-sphere scattering.

An optical standing-wave interferometer based on the detection of scattered light is proposed in this study. By inserting an ultra-thin scattering plate into the optical standing-wave field and detecting the scattered light, the intensity of the optical standing-wave field can be observed. The phase quadrature detection technique using two scattering plates is developed for measuring the displacement. The experimental results demonstrate that the measurement resolution and range can reach nanometer and micrometer levels, respectively.

Development of an angular displacement measurement technique through birefringence heterodyne interferometry.

An angular displacement measurement sensor with high resolution for large range measurement is presented. The design concept of the proposed method is based on the birefringence effect and phase detection of heterodyne interferometry. High system symmetry and simple operation can be easily achieved by employing an innovative sandwich optical design for the angular sensor. To evaluate the feasibility and performance of the proposed method, several experiments were performed. The experimental results demonstrate that our angular displacement measurement sensor can achieve a measurement range greater than 26°. Considering the high-frequency noise, the measurement resolution of the system is approximately 1.2° × 10-4. Because of the common-path arrangement, our proposed method can provide superior immunity against environmental disturbances.

Displacement measurement using a wavelength-phase-shifting grating interferometer.

A grating interferometer based on the wavelength-modulated phase-shifting method for displacement measurements is proposed. A laser beam with sequential phase shifting can be accomplished using a wavelength-modulated light passing through an unequal-path-length optical configuration. The optical phase of the moving grating is measured by the wavelength-modulated phase-shifting technique and the proposed time-domain quadrature detection method. The displacement of the grating is determined by the grating interferometry theorem with the measured phase variation. Experimental results reveal that the proposed method can detect a displacement up to a large distance of 1 mm and displacement variation down to the nanometer range.

Heterodyne common-path grating interferometer with Littrow configuration.

This paper presents a heterodyne common-path grating interferometer with Littrow configuration (HCGIL). The HCGIL can effectively overcome environmental disturbance effect and the DC offset and the amplitude variation of the measurement signals. Experimental results match well with the HP5529A results for long-range measurements. Results also show that the estimated measurement resolution is 0.15 ± 0.027 nm. The stability of the HCGIL is -0.41 ± 0.23 nm. Therefore, the HCGIL has potential for subnanometer resolution and long-range applications.

Measurement of in-plane displacement by wavelength-modulated heterodyne speckle interferometry.

The use of wavelength-modulated light incorporated into an optical-path-difference speckle interferometer is demonstrated as a heterodyne technique for measuring the in-plane displacement of a rough object. The in-plane displacement can be determined from the measured phase variation of the heterodyne speckle signal. We also improved the optical configuration to create a high-contrast interference pattern. Experimental results reveal that the proposed method can detect displacement up to a long range of 220 µm and displacement variation down to the nanometer range. Moreover, the sensitivity can reach up to 0.8°/nm. The performance of the system is discussed.

Two-dimensional displacement measurement by quasi-common-optical-path heterodyne grating interferometer.

A method based on a specific quasi-common-optical-path (QCOP) configuration for two-dimensional displacement measurement is presented. The measurement system consists of a heterodyne light source, two-dimensional holographic grating, specially designed set of half wave plates, and lock-in amplifiers. Two measurement configurations, for single and differential detection, are designed. The sensitivity, resolution and nonlinear phase error of the differential detection type are better than those of the single detection type. The experimental results demonstrate that the QCOP interferometer has the ability to measure two-dimensional displacement while maintaining high system stability.

Heterodyne grating interferometer based on a quasi-common-optical-path configuration for a two-degrees-of-freedom straightness measurement.

We present a heterodyne grating interferometer based on a quasi-common-optical-path (QCOP) design for a two-degrees-of-freedom (DOF) straightness measurement. Two half-wave plates are utilized to rotate the polarizations of two orthogonally polarized beams. The grating movement can be calculated by measuring the phase difference variation in each axis. The experimental results demonstrate that our method has the ability to measure two-DOF straightness and still maintain high system stability. The proposed and demonstrated method, which relies on heterodyne interferometric phase measurement combined with the QCOP configuration, has the advantages of high measurement resolution, relatively straightforward operation, and high system stability.

Polarization-interferometric surface-plasmon-resonance imaging system.

A two-dimensional phase-detection system for a surface-plasmon-resonance sensor is presented. The sensor utilizes polarization interferometry to detect phase differences between the s and p polarizations. We successfully detected a spatial phase-difference variation, resulting from the biomolecular interactions, of less than 1 x 1 mm(2). The phase stability demonstrated in the experimental results was approximately 0.09 degrees, and the corresponding change in the refractive index detection limit was approximately 4.3 x 10(-6). The common-optical-path configuration of the proposed method allowed us to reduce disturbances from ambient conditions. Furthermore, this method is capable of real-time array detection.

Applying an interferometric exposure model to analyze the influences of process parameters on the linewidth.

We utilize a modified interferometric exposure model, enhanced with the Beer-Lambert law, to study how some process parameters influence the structural dimensions within the whole exposure area. An experimental apparatus is built to verify the accuracy of this model. The simulation results indicate that when the incident angle is larger than 15 degrees, the effect of the beam deformation cannot be neglected. One cannot readily obtain periodic structures with the same dimensions during static exposure because of the Gaussian distribution of the light intensity. The theoretical results match the experimental ones quite well. The variation of Dill's parameter A has a greater influence on the transmittance and the linewidth when A is decreasing. If a poor contrast fringe is exposed in the photoresist, it will not only cause a greater nonuniformity of the structural dimensions but also a decreased aspect ratio in the structure after the development process.