Overcoming the refractivity limit in manufacturing environment.

We present a tracking interferometer with an intrinsic compensation of the refractive index of air. By using both wavelengths of a frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser the refractive index of air can be determined and compensated by the dispersion. One dimensional benchmark verification experiments in air conditioned and typical harsh, uncontrolled environment show an asymptotic length dependent uncertainty in the order of 0.1 μm/m for distances over 10 m, proofing the potential of this approach for high accuracy measurements in industrial environments.

[1]  Kaoru Minoshima,et al.  Extremely high-accuracy correction of air refractive index using two-colour optical frequency combs , 2013, Scientific Reports.

[2]  Karin Kniel,et al.  Selbstnachführendes Laserinterferometer für die Koordinatenmesstechnik (Tracking Laser Interferometer for Coordinate Metrology) , 2004 .

[3]  Petr Balling,et al.  Length and refractive index measurement by Fourier transform interferometry and frequency comb spectroscopy , 2012 .

[4]  J. Owens,et al.  9.6 - A dual wavelength optical distance measuring instrument which corrects for air density , 1967 .

[5]  G. B. nsch,et al.  Measurement of the refractive index of air and comparison with modified Edl?n's formulae , 1998 .

[6]  G. N. Peggs,et al.  Design of a High-Accuracy CMM Based on Multi-Lateration Techniques , 2000 .

[7]  H. Matsumoto,et al.  High-accuracy length-measuring interferometer using the two-colour method of compensating for the refractive index of air , 1992 .

[8]  Young-Jin Kim,et al.  Real-time compensation of the refractive index of air in distance measurement. , 2015, Optics express.

[9]  V. Korpelainen,et al.  Acoustic method for determination of the effective temperature and refractive index of air in accurate length interferometry , 2004 .

[10]  K. Meiners-Hagen,et al.  Refractive index determination in length measurement by two-colour interferometry , 2008 .

[11]  M. Vainio,et al.  High-precision diode-laser-based temperature measurement for air refractive index compensation. , 2011, Applied optics.

[12]  Karl Meiners-Hagen,et al.  Spectroscopically in situ traceable heterodyne frequency-scanning interferometry for distances up to 50 m , 2015 .

[13]  Josef Lazar,et al.  Refractive Index Compensation in Over-Determined Interferometric Systems , 2012, Sensors.

[14]  William T. Estler,et al.  Measurement technologies for precision positioning , 2015 .

[15]  Akira Ishida,et al.  Two-Wavelength Displacement-Measuring Interferometer Using Second-Harmonic Light to Eliminate Air-Turbulence-Induced Errors , 1989 .

[16]  L. Nenadovic,et al.  Rapid and precise absolute distance measurements at long range , 2009 .

[17]  F. Pollinger,et al.  Air index compensated interferometer as a prospective novel primary standard for baseline calibrations , 2015 .

[18]  P. Ciddor Refractive index of air: new equations for the visible and near infrared. , 1996, Applied optics.

[19]  K. Minoshima,et al.  High-accuracy measurement of 240-m distance in an optical tunnel by use of a compact femtosecond laser. , 2000, Applied optics.

[20]  F. Brunner,et al.  Atmospheric range correction for two-frequency SLR measurements , 2011 .

[21]  Frank Härtig,et al.  Measuring large 3D structures using four portable tracking laser interferometers , 2012 .

[22]  Harald Bosse,et al.  Heterodyne multi-wavelength absolute interferometry based on a cavity-enhanced electro-optic frequency comb pair. , 2014, Optics letters.

[23]  A. Reichold,et al.  Multi-channel absolute distance measurement system with sub ppm-accuracy and 20 m range using frequency scanning interferometry and gas absorption cells. , 2014, Optics express.

[24]  Nandini Bhattacharya,et al.  Mode-resolved frequency comb interferometry for high-accuracy long distance measurement , 2015, Scientific Reports.