Two wavelength heterodyne absolute ranging technique using suppressed carrier modulation

Abstract

For interferometric distance measurements on rough surfaces multiple wavelength interferometry is a powerful tool. It allows to reduce the sensitivity and to extend the range of unambiguity for interferometric measurement. A new kind of a double wavelength heterodyne interferometer is presented which uses only one laser source which generates two wavelengths λ 1 and λ 2 simultaneously. The two different heterodyne frequency shifts of the double heterodyne interferometer (DHI) are achieved by combining an acousto-optical modulator (driven in suppressed carrier mode) with a fixed diffraction grating. In a first prototype a multi-wavelength HeNe laser was used as light source. The synthetic wavelength λ in this system is 55.5 μm and the resolution about 0.15 μm. Measurement results obtained with the setup described are presented.