Rhodes M, Catenacci J, Howard M, La Lone B, Kostinski N, Perry D, Bennett C, Patterson J
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Ave., Livermore, California 94550-9234, USA.
Nevada National Security Site, P.O. Box 98521, M/S NLV078, Las Vegas, Nevada 89193-8521, USA.
Rev Sci Instrum. 2018 Mar;89(3):035111. doi: 10.1063/1.5019569.
Broadband laser ranging combines spectral interferometry and a dispersive Fourier transform to achieve high-repetition-rate measurements of the position of a moving surface. Telecommunications fiber is a convenient tool for generating the large linear dispersions required for a dispersive Fourier transform, but standard fiber also has higher-order dispersion that distorts the Fourier transform. Imperfections in the dispersive Fourier transform significantly complicate the ranging signal and must be dealt with to make high-precision measurements. We describe in detail an analysis process for interpreting ranging data when standard telecommunications fiber is used to perform an imperfect dispersive Fourier transform. This analysis process is experimentally validated over a 27-cm scan of static positions, showing an accuracy of 50 μm and a root-mean-square precision of 4.7 μm.
