Real-time and unambiguous visualization of a surface profile using an all-optical feedback interferometer

摘要

A novel feedback interferometer, which consists of a polarization Sagnac interferometer and an optically- addressed phase-only spatial light modulator, is described for real-time and unambiguous visualization of the surface profile. In this system, the output intensity from the Sagnac interferometer is optically fed back to the phase modulator placed in one arm of the interferometer to produce a sawtooth fringe intensity profile which is directly and unambiguously related to the surface profile. Experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of applying this system to surface profile measurement.