Apparatus and methods for surface contour measurement
First Claim
1. A method for determining, on an object having a surface, three-dimensional position information of a point on said surface of said object, said method comprising the steps of:
- providing two sources of radiation, said sources being coherent with respect to one another;
illuminating said point with said radiation from each of said sources;
changing the phase of said radiation from one of said sources relative to the phase of said radiation from the other of said sources as measured at said point on said surface of said object;
detecting radiation scattered by said point on said surface of said object; and
calculating position information in response to said change in phase of said radiation from said sources and said detected radiation scattered by said point on said surface of said object.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and methods of measuring position information, typically the depth coordinate, of a point on the surface of an object. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes two sources of radiation positioned to illuminate the point on the surface of the object with radiation from each of the sources. The radiation from each of the sources is coherent with respect to the radiation from the other source. A control system changes the phase of the radiation from at least one of the sources relative to the phase of the radiation from the other source as measured at the point on the surface of the object. A detector is positioned to receive radiation scattered by the point and a processor, in communication with the detector, calculates position information in response to the change in phase of the radiation from the source and the received radiation scattered by the point on the surface of the object.
67 Citations
50 Claims
-
1. A method for determining, on an object having a surface, three-dimensional position information of a point on said surface of said object, said method comprising the steps of:
-
providing two sources of radiation, said sources being coherent with respect to one another; illuminating said point with said radiation from each of said sources; changing the phase of said radiation from one of said sources relative to the phase of said radiation from the other of said sources as measured at said point on said surface of said object; detecting radiation scattered by said point on said surface of said object; and calculating position information in response to said change in phase of said radiation from said sources and said detected radiation scattered by said point on said surface of said object. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. Apparatus for determining, on an object having a surface, position information of a point on said surface of said object, said apparatus comprising:
-
two sources of radiation positioned to illuminate said point with said radiation from each of said sources, said radiation from a first one of said sources being coherent with respect to said radiation from said other one of said sources; a control system changing the phase of at least one of said sources of radiation relative to the phase of said radiation from the other of said sources as measured at said point on said surface of said object; a detector positioned to receive radiation scattered from said point on said surface of said object; and a processor receiving signals from said detector, said processor calculating depth coordinate information in response to said change in phase of said radiation sources and said received radiation scattered from said point on said surface of said object. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
-
-
32. A method for determining, on an object having a surface, position information of a point on said surface of said object, said method comprising the steps of:
-
providing two sources of radiation, with the radiation from said sources being coherent with respect to each other; providing a detector at said point on said surface; illuminating said point with said radiation from each of said sources; changing the phase of said radiation from one of said sources relative to the phase of said radiation from the other of said sources as measured at said point on said surface of said object; detecting said radiation at said point on said surface of said object; and calculating position information in response to said change in phase of said radiation from said sources and said radiation detected at said point on said surface of said object. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
-
-
40. Apparatus for determining, on an object having a surface, a depth coordinate of a point on said surface of said object, said apparatus comprising:
-
two sources of radiation positioned to illuminate said point with said radiation from each of said sources, said radiation from each of said sources being coherent with respect to said radiation from the other one of said sources; a control system changing the phase of said radiation from one of said sources relative to the phase of said radiation from the other of said sources as measured at said point on said surface of said object; a detector positioned at said point on said surface of said object to receive radiation illuminating said point on said surface of said object; and a processor receiving signals from said detector, said processor calculating position information of said point on said surface of said object in response to said change in phase of said radiation from said source and said radiation received at said point on said surface of said object. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
-
Specification