Heterodyne temporal speckle pattern interferometry

Multiple wavelength interferometry is used to increase the range of unambiguity beyond that of single wavelength interferometry. In wavelength scanning interferometry, the frequency of the intensity modulation induced by the wavelength change is determined independently for each image pixel. The tuning range determines the resolution of measurements, while the tuning step limits the range of the measurements. Laser diodes can be tuned, but an external cavity is needed for a larger mode hop free wavelength variation. Polished and optically rough surfaces can be analyzed in the same manner. Acquisition times of a few seconds and high resolutions were obtained. In a new development, the application of temporal evaluation of speckles for deformation and shape measurement will be discussed. It turns out that spectral and temporal phase analysis can be very useful for many applications in optical metrology.