NIT HAMIRPUR

PRESENTATION ON
LASER INTERFEROMETRY
Submitted to:
Dr. SURESH DHIMAN

Abhimanyu
Shree Ram

Interference
Interference is a light phenomenon .It

can be seen in everyday life. e.g..

colures of oil film floating on water.

In electromagnetic waves , interference

between two or more waves is just an

addition or superposition process. It
results in a new wave pattern .

Optical Path Length [OPL]

When light beam travels in space from one point to

another, the path length is the geometric length d

multiplied by n (the air refractive index) which is
one:

OPL = d

Light beam travels in different mediums will have

different optical path, depending on the refractive

index (n)of the medium or mediums.

OPL = n d

Optical Path Difference [OPD]

If two beams with the same wavelength i.e same

frequency, travel from two different points

towards the same destination ,taking different
paths there will be a difference in their optical
path this difference is called the optical path
difference [OPD].

it is very important factor in determining fringes

intensity.

OPD = m
Here, If m=0 or any integer values there will be a

bright fringe. Otherwise dark fringes (maximum

darkness when )
OPD= (m-1/2)

Coherence
Coherence of light wave is defined as the correlation

between the electric field values at different locations or

times. The coherent light source is able to produce a
coherent waves able to interfere with each other.

Ideal coherent source is a source with one wave length

only monochromatic which does not exist in practice.

Practically, there is no fully coherent light or fully

incoherent light, but there are light sources with deferent

coherence degree .

Intensity of Interference fringes

Intensity of interference fringes depends on the phase

between the recombined waves i.e.

Intensity I is the complex amplitude of the interferer

waves A given as:

I=A^2

I = lAl^2 = I1+I2+2(I1I2) cos () ^1/2

When

=0
I max = I1 + I2 +2(I1I2)^1/2
if I1=I2 then
I max=4I
=
I min = I1 + I2 2(I1I2)^1/2
if I1=I2 then

When

I min=0

Physics Review
A Double-Slit Interference Experiment

Interference of Light

The electromagnetic waves propagating in

reference and measurement arm can be seen

Interferometer
Interferometer:

Is an optical instrument that can produced two

beams interference or multiple beam
interference.
wave front division interferometers:

Two light beams from the same wave front are

made to interfere to produce an interference
fringe pattern.

Amplitude-division interferometers:

A light beam from one source point is divided

into two beams using a beam splitter.
e.g. Michelsons interferometer

Principle of Michelson
Interferometer
Michelson Interferometer
1)Separation
2)Recombination
3)Interference

A Michelson Interferometer for use on an opti

Principle of Michelson
Interferometer
Analyzing Michelson Interferometer
The central spot in the fringe pattern alternates
between bright and dark when Mirror M2
moves.
If we
can know the spacing
distance of M2 between two
sequent central bright spots
and the number of central
bright spots appeared, then
we can calculate how long M2
moved.
Photograph of the interference
fringes produced by a Michelson

Definition of LASER

A laser is a device that generates light by a

process called STIMULATED EMISSION.
The acronym LASER stands for Light
Amplification by Stimulated Emission of
Radiation.
Semiconducting
lasers
are
multilayer
semiconductor
devices
that
generates a coherent beam of monochromatic
light by laser action.

Definition of Interferometry
Interferometry refers to a family of
techniques in which waves, usually
electromagnetic, are superimposed
in order to extract information
about the waves

WORKING

Monochromatic light is directed

at a semi-transparent mirror that
acts as an amplitude dividing beam
splitter.
Part of the light is transmitted
toward a movable mirror and
reflected by this mirror.
The other part of the light is

Er and Em the amplitude of the

respective E-fields
the angular frequency,
t the time,
K(vector) the propagation vector,
r(vector) the position vector,
r and m the phase in reference
and measurement arm.

o is the vacuum permittivity

c the speed of light
k is the propagation constant
rm is the traveled optical distance in the
measurement arm
rr is the traveled optical distance in the
reference arm.

If the waves were initially in phase (r = m)

the cosine term depends on the difference in
optical path length between reference and
measurement arm.
This is the case for a monochromatic light
source. If further the two beams are of equal
amplitude the irradiance is:
When now the measurement mirror is
displaced over a distance z while the
reference mirror remains fixed, the optical path
length changes 2nz, with n the refractive
index of the medium through which the light
traverses

laser interferometer system(singal

axis)
It is composed of
(1) A light source, in this case a frequency
stabilized He-Ne laser tube
(2) A linear interferometer optic which is
made by the combination of a
polarizing beam-splitter and
retroreflector
(3) A moving linear retroreflector

Working
The first beam is reflected back to the detectors
and is used as a reference beam.
The second beam passes through the optic and
is reflected off a moving retroreflector to provide
the measurement beam.
Due to the motion of the moving retroreflector,
the second beam undergoes a shift caused by
relative motion of the beam. When the reference
beam and measurement beam recombine, they
create an interference pattern.

Interference fringe patterns created by combination of

CMM CALIBRATION

DETECTOR ELECTRONICS
The intensity of this pattern is a sinusoidal
signal.
There are two basic approaches to the
detector electronics.
1. To incorporate the detector in the same
housing as the laser
2. Remote detector

Factors must be considered in the design

/implementation of any high-accuracy laser
interferometer based motion system.
1.
2.
3.
4.

Environmental Errors
Mechanical Vibration
Dead-path Errors
Alignment Errors

ENVIRONMENTAL ERRORS
The wavelength of light emitted by a He-Ne laser
is by definition equal to 632.99072 nm in a
vacuum.
The index of refraction of air effectively changes
the frequency of the laser light which appears as
a path length difference.

MECHANICAL VIBRATION
Mechanical vibration can cause
perturbations in the positioning feedback
system that will limit overall system
performance.
Mechanical vibration errors can be
minimized through proper design of the
machine base vibration isolation system.

DEAD-PATH ERROR
This error is known as dead-path error and is
caused by portions of the beam that are
effectively uncompensated.
The dead path is a distance that the laser
beam
travels where
it undergoes
no relative
This approach
requires
careful alignment
of
motion.
the
optics
and
assumes
that
the
environmental conditions are identical for both
dead-paths.

ALIGNMENT ERRORS

All interferometer optics will have some amount

of nonlinearity, so this error cannot be completely
eliminated but is minimized by the use of high
quality optics.
An optical error that can be controlled by the user
is a misalignment that is commonly known as
cosine error.
Cosine error occurs when the laser beam path

Types of Laser
Interferometers
Homodyne Laser Interferometer (Standard)
It is based on interference of laser waves
(Michelson interferometer)
Heterodyne Laser interferometer
It is based on Doppler Effect.

Principle of Heterodyne Laser

interferometer
Doppler Effect

Doppler Effect:
The change of
frequency when a
source moves relative
f0
f0
to
an
observer.
f
, f

f0

1 vs v

1 vs v

We can get the velocity of an

object by measure the frequency
change between incident laser
wave and reflected laser wave.

Applications
Measurement of Distance
1) frequency stabilized He-Ne laser tube
2) combination of beam-splitter and
retroreflector
3) a moving retroreflector
4) detection electronics

Aerotechs LZR3000 Series Laser

Applications
Other Applications
Measure angles, flatness, straightness, velocity
and vibrations, etc.

Rearrangemen
ts of the light
paths

APPLICATIONS
1. Automotive
2. Machine tool manufacturers
3. Aerospace
4. Metalworking
5. Calibrations services
6. Calibration labs
7. absolute distance measurements
8. CMM and CNC position error
measurement
9. Space antenna
10. Impact testing

Thank You