Real-time absolute distance measurement by comb-based generation of multiple wavelengths

Abstract

We present a novel scheme of exploiting the frequency comb of a femtosecond laser as the wavelength ruler for real-time measurement of absolute distances. Four different wavelengths are simultaneously generated in parallel to perform absolute distance measurements by means of multi-wavelength interferometry at an update rate of 100 Hz. When compared to commercial laser interferometers, the proposed scheme shows a discrepancy of 32 nm on average in measuring a ~2.3 m distance, proving to be a competitive tool for industrial applications. Copyright © 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.