Interferometric measurement of distance using a femtosecond frequency comb is demonstrated and compared with a counting interferometer displacement measurement. A numerical model of pulse propagation in air is developed and the results are compared with experimental data for short distances. The relative agreement for distance measurement in known laboratory conditions is better than 10 -7 . According to the model, similar precision seems feasible even for long-distance measurement in air if conditions are sufficiently known. It is demonstrated that the relative width of the interferogram envelope even decreases with the measured length, and a fringe contrast higher than 90% could be obtained for kilometer distances in air, if optimal spectral width for that length and wavelength is used. The possibility of comb radiation delivery to the interferometer by an optical fiber is shown by model and experiment, which is important from a practical point of view.
In this paper we describe the progress we have made in our simultaneous length measurement and the femtosecond comb interferometric spectroscopy in a conventional arrangement with a moving mirror. Scanning and detection over an interval longer than the distance between two consecutive pulses of the frequency comb allow for a spectral resolution of the individual frequency modes of the comb. Precise knowledge of comb mode frequency leads to a precise estimation of the spectral characteristics of inspected phenomena. Using the pulse train of the frequency comb allows for measurement with highly unbalanced lengths of interferometer arms, i.e. an absolute long distance measurement. Further, we present a non-contact (double sided) method of measurement of the length/thickness of plane-parallel objects (gauge blocks, glass samples) by combining the fs comb (white light) with single frequency laser interferometry. The position of a fringe packet is evaluated by estimating the stationary phase position for any wavelength in the spectral band used. The repeatability of this position estimation is a few nanometres regardless of whether dispersion of the arms is compensated (transform limited fringe packet ∼10 fringes FWHM) or highly different (fringe packet stretched to >200 fringes FWHM). The measurement of steel gauge block by this method was compared with the standard method, and deviation (+13 ± 12) nm for gauge blocks (2 to 100) mm was found. The measurement of low reflecting ceramic gauges or clear glass samples was also tested. In the case of glass, it becomes possible to measure simultaneously both the thickness and the refractive index (and dispersion) of flat samples.
The knowledge of absolute gravity acceleration at the level of 1 × 10 −9 is needed in geosciences (e.g. for monitoring crustal deformations and mass transports) and in metrology for watt balance experiments related to the new SI definition of the unit of kilogram. The gravity reference, which results from the international comparisons held with the participation of numerous absolute gravimeters, is significantly affected by qualities of instruments prevailing in the comparisons (i.e. at present, FG5 gravimeters). Therefore, it is necessary to thoroughly investigate all instrumental (particularly systematic) errors. This paper deals with systematic errors of the FG5#215 coming from the distorted fringe signal and from the electronic dispersion at several electronic components including cables. In order to investigate these effects, we developed a new experimental system for acquiring and analysing the data parallel to the FG5 built-in system. The new system based on the analogue-to-digital converter with digital waveform processing using the FFT swept band pass filter is developed and tested on the FG5#215 gravimeter equipped with a new fast analogue output. The system is characterized by a low timing jitter, digital handling of the distorted swept signal with determination of zero-crossings for the fundamental frequency sweep and also for its harmonics and can be used for any gravimeter based on the laser interferometry. Comparison of the original FG5 system and the experimental systems is provided on g-values, residuals and additional measurements/models. Moreover, advanced approach for the solution of the free-fall motion is presented, which allows to take into account a non-linear gravity change with height.
An instrument achieving 100 KHz spectral precision using multiple correlation Fourier transform spectroscopy has been demonstrated. The instrument can measure the individual frequency comb modes of 100 MHz frequency comb lasers in air. The experiments show ∼400,000 resolved modes at linewidths of 85 MHz in the region of 829 nm and ∼ 182,000 resolved modes at linewidths of 28 MHz in the region of 1.5 μm, with a recording time of few minutes. The precision of the instrument, defined by the frequency positioning, attains sub-MHz even when the scan is performed in air.
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