Increasing the sensitivity for tilt measurement using a cyclic interferometer with multiple reflections

Valiyaparambil Chacko Pretheesh Kumar; Charles Joenathan; Angarai Ganesan; Umapathy Somasundram

doi:10.1117/1.OE.55.8.084103

9 August 2016 Increasing the sensitivity for tilt measurement using a cyclic interferometer with multiple reflections

Valiyaparambil Chacko Pretheesh Kumar, Charles Joenathan, Angarai Ganesan, Umapathy Somasundram

Author Affiliations +

Optical Engineering, Vol. 55, Issue 8, 084103 (August 2016). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.55.8.084103

Abstract

Measurement of tilt plays an important role in metrological applications and consequently, several methods have been proposed in the recent past. Classical interferometric methods can measure angles with high accuracy but are easily susceptible to external turbulences. We propose to use a cyclic interferometer to measure tilt in which the sensitivity to tilt measurement is double when compared with that of the classical Michelson interferometer. Since the counter propagating beams travel identical paths, the interferometer is insensitive to external vibrations and turbulence and thus can be used under harsh environmental conditions. The novelty in the technique lies in creating multiple reflections in the tilt mirror to enhance the measurement accuracy by the way of increasing the sensitivity. This paper presents the basics of the interferometer and experimental results to quantify the increase in sensitivity. By increasing the number of reflections, it is shown that sensitivity can be further improved to measure tilt angles below 5 μ rad.

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Valiyaparambil Chacko Pretheesh Kumar, Charles Joenathan, Angarai Ganesan, and Umapathy Somasundram "Increasing the sensitivity for tilt measurement using a cyclic interferometer with multiple reflections," Optical Engineering 55(8), 084103 (9 August 2016). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.55.8.084103

Published: 9 August 2016

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