Lasers for Interferometry

Interferometry makes use of interference phenomena for measurement purposes, for example investigation into the flatness of an optical surface. Even though there are many different types of interferometers, all of them basically operate on the same principle. A beam of light comes from a single source and two or more flat mirrors are used to split off different light beams. These beams are then combined so that they interfere with each other. In order to get interference a highly coherent laser source is required. The more coherent the laser beam, or the longer the coherence length, the finer the detail that can be resolved in the interferometer.

All Cobolt DPSS lasers are single longitudinal mode, with coherence lengths >10m, and are thus a very suitable choice of laser for any interferometric application.

The term interferometry derives from the word interference. Interference is a phenomenon that occurs when two waves of any kind come together at the same time and place.

Interferometry makes use of interference phenomena for measurement purposes, for example investigation of the fl atness of an optical surface.
Even though there are many different types of interferometric based applications, all of them basically operate on the same principle. Two beams are separated and then combined so that they interfere with each other. In order to get interference a highly coherent laser source is required. The more coherent the laser beam, or the longer the coherence length, the fi ner the detail that can be resolved.
HÜBNER Photonics has one of the widest ranges of single frequency lasers in the industry for interferometric techniques, including holography, Doppler velocimetry and dynamic light scattering.