OPTICAL SETUPS

Measuring the surface quality of optical flats, windows, mirrors, and prisms is typically completed with a laser interferometer. The diagram below shows a typical setup using a Fizeau Laser Interferometer, though testing can also be completed with a Twyman-Green interferometer.

An interferometer with a HeNe laser source can often be used to measure surface quality. However, depending on the optical coatings and/or the use case for the optic, it may be important to test the surface quality using an interferometer with a laser source close to the optic’s functional wavelength.

For a typical setup the procedure is as follows:

1. Install a bayonet mount on the aperture of the instrument.
2. Mount a transmission flat (i.e., the reference optic) in the bayonet mount.
3. While viewing the alignment screen in software, use the tip/tilt controls on the AccuFiz to align the reference optic.
4.  Assemble a mount for the text optic using a 2-axis mount and either a 3-jaw chuck or shelf mount.
5. Secure the test optic in its mount and place it in the beam path. Typically you’ll position the optic as close as possible to the intereferometer to minimize any error that can be introduced by air turbulence.
6. While viewing the alignment screen in software, use the tip/tilt controls on the test mount to align the optic.
7. While viewing live video from the interferometer, adjust the tip and tilt of the test mount to minimize the fringes.

The system is now aligned for measurement.

A beam expander enables measurement of flat optics larger than the instrument aperture. Beam expanders up to 800mm are available for AccuFiz interferometers. The expanders include kinematic mounting which enables the instrument to be removed from the expander, used separately for smaller setups, then returned to the larger setup without realignment. 

For highly reflective optics the test beam returned to the system may be so bright that it washes out the interference fringes. In this case, a beam attenuator such as a pellicle can be inserted into the test path between the instrument and the test piece to reduce the return beam power and enable measurement.

In a typical measurement setup, the interferometer and all mounts are situated on an air table which isolates the system from measurement-degrading vibration. Air isolation can be expensive—prohibitively so for very large optics or long measurement paths.

4D interferometers feature optional Dynamic Interferometry^®, which enables measurement data to be acquired simultaneously. Because acquisition speed is so fast, vibration is no longer an issue, and an isolation table is not needed.