Dual Fresnel mirror system for 360 degree viewable three-dimensional displays.

360-degree viewable three-dimensional (3D) display systems have gained considerable attention for the unique manner in which they display objects. Most of the optical display devices in these systems employ two parabolic mirrors facing each other separated by a distance equal to the focal length of the mirrors. However, the current configuration is limited to unity magnification and provides a small image relative to the volume of the system.

Shearing interference microscope for step-height measurements.

A shearing interference microscope using a Savart prism as the shear plate is proposed for inspecting step-heights. Where the light beam propagates through the Savart prism and microscopic system to illuminate the sample, it then turns back to re-pass through the Savart prism and microscopic system to generate a shearing interference pattern on the camera. Two measurement modes, phase-shifting and phase-scanning, can be utilized to determine the depths of the step-heights on the sample.

Orthogonal polarization Mirau interferometer using reflective-type waveplate.

This work proposes an orthogonal polarization Mirau interferometry using a reflective-type waveplate to generate different polarization orientations for broadband white light interferometry. The reflective-type half-waveplate is employed as the reference arm of the Mirau interferometer to convert polarization and it generates a reference light with an orientation orthogonal to the object light. An advantage of the proposed interferometer is its ability to control the ratio of light intensity between the object and reference arms to maximize the interferometric fringe contrast.

Broadband light source shearing interferometer using Savart plate and angular scanning technique.

A shearing interferometer based on using broadband light source, Savart plate, and angular scanning technique is proposed for slope contour measurements in this Letter. Of which, the Savart plate divides the wavefront reflected from the detected surface into two laterally displaced ones, the interference pattern generated by the interference of the divided wavefronts is modulated by an envelope function, and the slope contour of the detected surface is determined by examining the shifting of the darkest fringe as the shear plate is angularly scanned. A setup for realizing the interferometer is constructed.

Polarization phase-shifting Newton interferometer for plane optical surface measurements.

This Letter introduces a polarization phase-shifting Newton interferometer that can be utilized for plane optical surface measurements, a setup constructed to realize the interferometer, and the experimental results from the use of the setup. The results confirm not only the validity but also the feasibility of the interferometer.

A calibrator based on the use of low-coherent light source straightness interferometer and compensation method.

A calibrator utilizing a low-coherent light source straightness interferometer and a compensation method is introduced for straightness measurements in this paper. Where the interference pattern, which is modulated by an envelope function, generated by the interferometer undergoes a shifting as the Wolaston prism of the interferometer experiences a lateral displacement, and the compensation method senses the displacement by driving the prism back to the position to restore the pattern. A setup, which is with a measurement sensitivity of 36.

Angular probe based on using Fabry-Perot etalon and scanning technique.

A novel angular probe using the Fabry-Perot etalon and angular scanning technique is proposed for absolute angular displacement determinations in this paper. The measurement theory is first derived, a setup constructed to implement the angular probe is then introduced and analyzed, and the experimental results from the uses of the setup are finally presented. The setup analyses reveal that the probe is with high measurement resolution and sensitivity.

Replacers of barcodes for small application areas by using grating dots to diffractively form bright points.

Although barcodes can be used to manage data conveniently, they cannot be applied to small areas. Therefore, pointcodes are used to overcome the issue in this article. A pointcode uses a pointcode pattern to encode data and uses a pointcode image to decode data.

Precise displacement measurement for a local surface.

An optical measurement method to get the in-plane and out-of-plane displacements of a local surface using a laser is proposed. The proposed method simultaneously derives the in-plane and out-of-plane displacements by measuring the shift of interference fringes formed by scattered beams. The average errors of the in-plane and out-of-plane displacement measurements are significantly smaller than 10 nm.

Low-coherent light-source angular interferometer using a square prism and the angular-scanning technique.

An interferometer based on using low-coherent light source, a square prism, and the angular-scanning technique is proposed for absolute angular-displacement determinations. An angular displacement of the square prism shifts the correlogram, which is modulated by an envelope function, of the interference signal of the beams passing through the prism. This angle can thus be discovered by detecting the shifting of the envelope peak.

Diffractive barcode using grating-dot lines.

Bar arrangements used by conventional diffractive barcodes are usually similar to those used by diffusive barcodes. We, however, propose a modified diffractive barcode with bar arrangements different from those used by diffusive barcodes. A modified diffractive barcode pattern is composed of many parallel grating-dot lines.

Wavefront measurements of diode laser beams with large dynamic ranges.

We propose and demonstrate a method for the measurement of the wavefronts of high-power diode laser beams with large dynamic ranges. Our wavefront sensor consists of a movable pinhole and a wavefront-slope detector. The measurement results show that the wavefront sensor exhibits a large dynamic range of pi/2 to -pi/2 and a high precision on the measured average wavefront slope.