High-accuracy position-sensing with fiber-coupled white-light interferometers

A fiber-optic system for high-accuracy position sensing has been constructed using the principle of white-light interferometry. In the system, white light from a W-lamp is fed via multimode optical fibers consecutively through two conventional Michelson interferometers to a detector. The element whose position is to be sensed displaces one mirror of the transmitting interferometer in the sensor head; the receiving interferometer, located in a remote control room, is scanned periodically, and the appearance of white-light fringes is used to mark the coincidence of the optical path differences. To measure the transmitted positions, a HeNe laser beam is fed additionally through the receiving interferometer and the fringes are counted. The system provides the usual high accuracy of laser interferometers, yet it does not 'forget' its zero point when interrupted. The use of multimode fibers provides enough optical power to permit operation multiplex of several simple transmitters with a single, more sophisticated receiver.