We suggest a novel method to calculate the initial phase difference
between two fibre arms of a laser homodyne interferometer. Put the two
fibre arms in a temperature controller, whose short term stability is
0.02°C (measured in an hour), then measure the interference
photocurrent and the photocurrents from the two fibre arms at a fixed
temperature. With these three photocurrents we can calculate the value
of the initial phase difference. We set up a simple laser homodyne
interferometer to test the theory. The experimental results are
repeatable and the measurement precision is about 0.04°. It is
theoretically and experimentally proven that this method is potentially
easy and practical.
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