The laser diode self-mixing (or feedback) interferometric technique is reviewed as a general tool for remote sensing applications. The operating principle is outlined, and the attainable performance is compared to conventional coherent detection. Applications to metrology and to new sensing schemes are described, experimental results are reported and the overall performance of the sensors are assessed.
This work describes the development of an optical sensor for measurement of vibration without contact. The realized vibrometer is based on real-time digital elaboration of the signal obtained by a self-mixing interferometer, with an embedded autofocus system. Two different algorithms are implemented, for the continuous working on diffusive surfaces, with different levels of optical reflectivity. Thanks to the autofocus and the digital processing, the proposed sensor is easy to use and requires no assistance of a skilled operator.
An instrument for noncontact measurement of differential vibrations is developed, based on the self-mixing interferometer. As no reference arm is available in the self-mixing configuration, the differential mode is obtained by electronic subtraction of signals from two (nominally equal) vibrometer channels, taking advantage that channels are servo stabilized and thus insensitive to speckle and other sources of amplitude fluctuation. We show that electronic subtraction is nearly as effective as field superposition. Common-mode suppression is 25-30 dB, the dynamic range (amplitude) is in excess of 100 microm, and the minimum measurable (differential) amplitude is 20 nm on a B = 10 kHz bandwidth. The instrument has been used to measure vibrations of two metal samples kept in contact, revealing the hysteresis cycle in the microslip and gross-slip regimes, which are of interest in the study of friction induced vibration damping of gas turbine blades for aircraft applications.
This work describes the development of a novel laser instrument for non-contact absolute distance measurements, working in safety class I. The physical principle of operation is based on the self-mixing effect in a laser diode: the laser diode wavelength is modulated through a change of the supply current, inducing a self-mixing signal. The frequency of the produced fringes depends on the target distance, therefore a particular algorithm is applied, in real-time, to extract the frequency tone of the fringes, even in the case of very low signal-to-noise ratio. The final low-cost instrument is realized with an embedded digital signal processor and works in real-time over diffusive targets, with resolution better than 100 μm for distances up to 2 m.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.