VERTICAL CAVITY SURFACE EMITTING LASER (VCSEL) AS AN INTERFEROMETER REFERENCE

摘要

A vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) package utilized as a laser reference (30) for use in interferometry (12). The primary disadvantage of VCSELs, in terms of interferometry, has been found to be the relatively poor wavenumber stability of the beam. The present invention is a method and apparatus that makes viable a VCSEL package suitable for use as a reference in interferometry. The VCSEL package incorporates current control, temperature control and an algorithm for correcting wavenumber drift. The algorithm is derived from spectroscopic analysis of a reference sample having a known spectrum and comparing the generated spectrum to the known spectrum.