SINUSOIDAL PHASE SHIFTING INTERFEROMETRY
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- combining a first light beam and at least a second light beam to form a combined light beam;
introducing a sinusoidal phase shift with a frequency f between a phase of the first light beam and a phase of the second light beam;
recording at least one interference signal based on a modulation of the combined light beam in response to the sinusoidal phase shift, the interference signal comprising at least three different frequency components;
for each interference signal, determining information related to the difference in optical path lengths of the first and second light beam by comparing the intensity of the at least three different frequency components of the interference signal; and
outputting the information.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is a method that includes combining a first light beam and at least a second light beam to form a combined light beam, introducing a sinusoidal phase shift with a frequency f between a phase of the first light beam and a phase of the second light beam, recording at least one interference signal based on a modulation of the combined light beam in response to the sinusoidal phase shift, where the interference signal includes at least three different frequency components, and outputting the information. For each interference signal, information related to the difference in optical path lengths of the first and second light beam is determined by comparing the intensity of the at least three different frequency components of the interference signal.
38 Citations
83 Claims
-
1. A method comprising:
-
combining a first light beam and at least a second light beam to form a combined light beam; introducing a sinusoidal phase shift with a frequency f between a phase of the first light beam and a phase of the second light beam; recording at least one interference signal based on a modulation of the combined light beam in response to the sinusoidal phase shift, the interference signal comprising at least three different frequency components; for each interference signal, determining information related to the difference in optical path lengths of the first and second light beam by comparing the intensity of the at least three different frequency components of the interference signal; and outputting the information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
-
-
74. A system comprising:
-
an interferometer which during operation combines a first light beam and a second light beam derived from a common source to form combined light beam; a phase shifting component which during operation introduces a sinusoidal phase shift between a phase of the first light beam and a phase of the second light beam; a photo detector positioned to detect the combined light beam and provide at least one interference signal based on the modulation of the combined light beam in response to the phase shift; and an electronic controller coupled to the phase shifting component and the photo detector, wherein the controller is configured to;
determine information related to the difference in optical path lengths of the first and second light beam by comparing the intensity of at least three frequency components of the interference signal. - View Dependent Claims (75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82)
-
-
83-105. -105. (canceled)
Specification