Standing-wave interferometer

An interferometric position sensor was developed using the concept of sampling a standing wave. Interference of a standing wave created in front of a plane mirror can be detected by thin, partly transparent sensors based on amorphous silicon. The optical thickness of the absorption layer is thinner than the wavelength lambda of the incident light. Detection of minima and maxima of the standing wave can be used to determine the relative displacement of the plane mirror and the detector. For determination of bidirectional fringe counting, two detectors with a certain phase shift were introduced into the standing wave. An integrated solution of two stacked n-i-p diodes and a phase shifter will be presented. The operation principle of the device will be demonstrated by measured Lissajous figures. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.