Techniques in Broadband Interferometry

Erskine, D J

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

关键词: 99 General And Miscellaneous//Mathematics, Computing, And Information Science;    Dollars;    Wavelengths;    Lasers;    Light Bulbs;   

DOI  :  10.2172/15009760
RP-ID  :  UCRL-TR-201695
RP-ID  :  W-7405-ENG-48
RP-ID  :  15009760

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

This is a compilation of my patents issued from 1997 to 2002, generally describing interferometer techniques that modify the coherence properties of broad-bandwidth light and other waves, with applications to Doppler velocimetry, range finding, imaging and spectroscopy. Patents are tedious to read in their original form. In an effort to improve their readability I have embedded the Figures throughout the manuscript, put the Figure captions underneath the Figures, and added section headings. Otherwise I have resisted the temptation to modify the words, though I found many places which could use healthy editing. There may be minor differences with the official versions issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office, particularly in the claims sections. In my shock physics work I measured the velocities of targets impacted by flyer plates by illuminating them with laser light and analyzing the reflected light with an interferometer. Small wavelength changes caused by the target motion (Doppler effect) were converted into fringe shifts by the interferometer. Lasers having long coherence lengths were required for the illumination. While lasers are certainly bright sources, and their collimated beams are convenient to work with, they are expensive. Particularly if one needs to illuminate a wide surface area, then large amounts of power are needed. Orders of magnitude more power per dollar can be obtained from a simple flashlamp, or for that matter, a 50 cent light bulb. Yet these inexpensive sources cannot practically be used for Doppler velocimetry because their coherence length is extremely short, i.e. their bandwidth is much too wide. Hence the motivation for patents 1 & 2 is a method (White Light Velocimetry) for allowing use of these powerful but incoherent lamps for interferometry. The coherence of the illumination is modified by passing it through a preparatory interferometer.