KEYWORDS: Mirrors, Doppler effect, Photodiodes, Beam splitters, Michelson interferometers, Prisms, Control systems, Reflectors, Chemical oxygen iodine lasers, Control systems design
General wavemeters based on Michelson interferometer only have a moving arm, which cann't more multiply optical
paths' differences, and is unable to avoid dispersion from a beamsplitter. Commonly, the moving mirror driven by a
direct current motor and a ball screw have some disadvantage, such as heavy weight, unstable motion. In the paper, a
better optical layout, and configuration and a driving method of moving mirrors are proposed. A newly optical paths
layout of a wavemeter based on Michelson Interferometer is present, including two moving mirrors for forming optical
paths' differences, a beamsplitter for splitting a light into a transmitted light and a reflected light, two reflectors, and a
reference laser. It has two moving arms and can eliminate dispersion from the beamsplitter. According to Doppler effect,
how to form the interference fringes in the photodiodes is analyzed and formulated. The Doppler effect appears with
motion of the moving mirrors. Consequently, alternately dark and bright interference fringes are generated, then received
and converted into the electronic signals by the photodiodes. It is concluded that the electronic signals involves the
wavelength of a light and the velocity of the moving mirror by investigating the Doppler effect. The structure of the
moving mirrors is clarified. The moving mirrors are made of the two pyramid prisms which are placed symmetrically on
the driving motor. A controlling system for keeping the moving mirrors in constant velocity is designed. In order to make
frequencies of electronic signals from interference fringes stable, the moving mirrors must move in a uniform speed. The
voice coil motor (VCM) drags the moving mirror to and fro. VCM in uniform motion is realized by an
optical-mechanical-electrical closed-loop feedback system. The Doppler frequency difference of the reference laser is the
standard of the system. The PID controller comprising parallel proportional-integral-differential operational circuit
regulates the velocity of VCM.
The wavemeter can measure a wavelength of a tuned laser and an unknown laser. Due to the Doppler shift, the wavemeter operates and establishes coherent interference fringes on the detectors according to the Michelson interference principle. The movable reflector of the wavemeter is driven by a voice-coin motor. The closed-loop feedback design can ensure the movable reflector to move at a constant speed all the time. The electronic signals of both the reference laser and an unknown laser are multiplied in frequency by PLL (Phase-Locked Loop) unit so as to enhance the resolutions of the wavemeter. PLL unit consists of NE564 and 74LS193. Finally, the counter including a MCU (microcontroller unit), two 8254 programmable times, and a LCD calculates the wavelength of the unknown laser.
The two longitudinal modes whose polarizations are orthogonal to each other can appear in the resonant cavity of He-Ne laser cavity 140mm long with. The both modes compete each other. Controlling the resonant cavity length, the heater wrapped on it enhances the output power of the weakening mode so as to stabilize the frequencies of the both modes. The intracavity laser includes a laser resonant cavity, a heater, an analyzer, a polarized spectroscope, and two detectors. The voltage multiplying rectifier circuit is designed for the laser power. When the frequencies of the both modes are stable, the positive duty of the output pulse of the comparator is 50%. With the beat frequency method, the frequency stability of this laser is tested for 2x10-10. The laser using this method has a lot of particular advantages that other methods do not possess, such as no piezocrystal or magnetic field.
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