Absolute distance measurement in a combined-dispersive interferometer using a femtosecond pulse laser. (24th November 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wu, Hanzhong; Zhang, Fumin; Meng, Fei; Liu, Tingyang; Li, Jianshuang; Pan, Liang; Qu, Xinghua
• Is Part Of: Measurement science & technology. Volume 27:Number 1(2016:Jan.)
• Publication Date: 2015-11-24
• Subjects: absolute distance measurement -- femtosecond pulse laser -- dispersive interferometry -- uncertainty evaluation; Physical measurements -- Periodicals; Scientific apparatus and instruments -- Periodicals; Equipment and Supplies -- Periodicals; Science -- instrumentation -- Periodicals; Technology -- instrumentation -- Periodicals; Mesures physiques -- Périodiques; Physical measurements; Scientific apparatus and instruments; Periodicals; 502.87
• DOI: 10.1088/0957-0233/27/1/015202
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0957-0233

Abstract

Abstract: In this paper, a ranging system using dispersive interferometry is developed with a femtosecond pulse laser, aiming to eliminate the measurement dead zones by using a greatly unbalanced Mach–Zehnder interferometer. The distance can be measured by the frequency of the spectral modulation. We indicate that the integer number of the pulse-to-pulse length can be determined by changing the repetition frequency. In the short distance measurement, the results show an agreement within 1.5 μ m compared with an incremental He-Ne laser in the 1 m measurement range. We do large-scale experiments on a long optical rail using a typical Michelson interferometer, and an agreement well within 25 μ m is obtained in a range up to 75 m, corresponding to a relative precision of 3.3 × 10 −7 . Additionally, we experimentally optimize the system set-up to minimize the measurement uncertainty.