Split phase high performance, high frequency, high dynamic range interferometer

摘要

Processing two interference signals to reconstruct a target image includes splitting a laser beam into a reference beam and a measurement beam, and in turn splitting the reference beam into two sub-reference beams. A phase shift is introduced into one of the sub-reference beams, the phase shift being substantially 90 degrees. A measurement beam is reflected from a surface of a moving target, and split into two sub-measurement beams. A first respective sub-reference beam is combined with a first sub-measurement beam, and the second sub-reference beam is combined with the second sub-measurement beam, and the in phase and out of phase signals reconstruct the target surface. Adjustment of the split sub-reference beams is effected by Pockels cells to achieve the desired phase difference between the two sub-reference beams. The reconstructed motion of the target surface is effected with a selected frequency characteristic, spatial resolution and range characteristic.