Neal Robert M, Wyant James C
Optical Sciences Center, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721, USA.
Appl Opt. 2006 May 20;45(15):3463-76. doi: 10.1364/ao.45.003463.
A new instrument, the polarization phase-shifting point-diffraction interferometer, has been developed by use of a birefringent pinhole plate. The interferometer uses polarization to separate the test and reference beams, interfering what begin as orthogonal polarization states. The instrument is compact, simple to align, and vibration insensitive and can phase shift without moving parts or separate reference optics. The theory of the interferometer is presented, along with properties and fabrication techniques for the birefringent pinhole plate and a new model used to determine the quality of the reference wavefront from the pinhole as a function of pinhole size and test optic aberrations. The performance of the interferometer is also presented, along with a detailed error analysis and experimental results.
一种新的仪器——偏振相移点衍射干涉仪，已通过使用双折射针孔板研制而成。该干涉仪利用偏振来分离测试光束和参考光束，使最初为正交偏振态的光束发生干涉。该仪器结构紧凑，易于对准，对振动不敏感，并且无需移动部件或单独的参考光学元件就能实现相移。文中介绍了干涉仪的理论，以及双折射针孔板的特性和制造技术，还介绍了一种新模型，该模型用于根据针孔尺寸和测试光学元件像差确定来自针孔的参考波前质量。文中还给出了干涉仪的性能，以及详细的误差分析和实验结果。
