Absolute distance measurement by lateral shearing interferometry of point-diffracted spherical waves

Abstract

We describe a method of absolute distance measurement based on the lateral shearing interferometry of point-diffracted spherical waves. A unique feature is that the distance measurement is not confined only along a single line of the optical axis, but the target is allowed to take movement freely within a volumetric measurement space formed by the aperture angle of point-diffraction. Detailed measurement theory is explained along with experimental verification. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.