Frequency Scanned Interferometry for ILC Tracker Alignment

In this paper, we report high-precision absolute distance and vibration measurements performed with frequency scanned interferometry using a pair of single-mode optical b ers. Absolute distance was determined by counting the interference fringes produced while scanning the laser frequency. A high-nesse Fabry-Perot interferometer was used to determine frequency changes during scanning. A dual-laser scanning technique was used to cancel drift errors to improve the absolute distance measurement presicion. Under realistic conditions, a precision of 0.16 microns was achieved for absolute distance of 0.41 meters. Numerical simulation of an optical alignment system for a single silicon ladder, cylinder is also presented. The motivation for this project is to design a novel optical system for quasi-real time alignment of tracker detector elements used in High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments. A.F. Fox-Murphy et.al. from Oxford University reported their design of a frequency scanned interferometer (FSI) for precise alignment of the ATLAS Inner Detector [1, 2]. Given the demonstrated need for improvements in detector performance, we plan to design and prototype an enhanced FSI system to be used for the alignment of tracker elements in the next generation of electron-positron Linear Collider detectors. Current plans for future detectors require a spatial resolution for signals from a tracker detector, such as a silicon microstrip or silicon drift detector, to be approximately 7-10 m [3]. To achieve this required spatial resolution, the measurement precision of absolute distance changes of tracker elements in one dimension should be on the order of 1 m . Simultaneous measurements from hundreds of interferometers will be used to determine the 3-dimensional positions of the tracker elements. The University of Michigan group has constructed several demonstration Frequency Scanned Interferometer (FSI) systems with the laser light transported by air or single-mode optical b er, using single-b er and dual-laser scanning techniques for initial feasibility studies. Absolute distance was determined by counting the interference fringes produced while scanning the laser frequency. The main goal of the demonstration systems was to determine the potential accuracy of absolute distance measurements that could be achieved under both controlled and realistic conditions. Secondary goals included estimating the eects of vibrations and studying error sources crucial to the absolute distance accuracy. Two multiple-distance-measurement analysis techniques were developed to improve distance precision and to extract the amplitude and frequency of vibrations. Under laboratory conditions, a measurement precision of 50 nm was achieved for absolute distances ranging from 0.1 meters to 0.7 meters by using the rst multipledistance-measurement technique. The second analysis technique has the capability to measure vibration frequencies ranging from 0.1 Hz to 100 Hz with amplitude as small as a few nanometers, without a priori knowledge[4]. The multiple-distance-measurement analysis techniques are well suited for reducing vibration eects and uncertainties from fringe & frequency determination, but do not handle well the drift errors such as from thermal eects. In this paper, we describe a dual-laser system intended to reduce the drift errors and show some results under realistic conditions. Numerical simulation of an optical alignment system for a single silicon ladder and for cylinders is also presented.