Compact solid polarization phase-shifting Mach-Zehnder interferometer

Patrick J. Reardon; Jeff L. Howard; Greg Lawson; Alexander McPherson; Mark E. Wells

doi:10.1117/12.366328

25 October 1999 Compact solid polarization phase-shifting Mach-Zehnder interferometer

Patrick J. Reardon, Jeff L. Howard, Greg Lawson, Alexander McPherson, Mark E. Wells

Proceedings Volume 3754, Polarization: Measurement, Analysis, and Remote Sensing II; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.366328
Event: SPIE's International Symposium on Optical Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation, 1999, Denver, CO, United States

Abstract

A small rugged interferometer was required for measuring the depletion zones generated in a protein crystal growth experiment. The exploration for an optimum solution yielded an instrument that uses solid optical design techniques, where air is removed from the optical path and replaced with 'solid air' or glass. The interferometer is a Mach-Zehnder configuration with the reference and test arms separated as orthogonal polarization states with a polarization beam splitting cube (PBSC), then recombined by another PBSC, maintaining the orthogonality of the reference and test beam polarizations. An off-the-shelf liquid crystal variable phase plate was sufficient to produce the necessary 2(pi) phase shift. The device was built and tested and shoed excellent performance. The spatial resolution of the interferometer is limited only by the 0.011mm pixels at the 5 by 5 mm detector and the imager is operating at telecentric 1:1 conjugates. Phase resolution, using the Hariharan 5-step algorithm, is measured to be better than (lambda) /50. In this paper, calibration test results are presented and future upgrades are outlined.

Citation Download Citation

Patrick J. Reardon, Jeff L. Howard, Greg Lawson, Alexander McPherson, and Mark E. Wells "Compact solid polarization phase-shifting Mach-Zehnder interferometer", Proc. SPIE 3754, Polarization: Measurement, Analysis, and Remote Sensing II, (25 October 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.366328

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