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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 5909281 | Interferometric measurement of surfaces with diffractive optics and planar wavefront imaging An interferometer (10) employs diffractive optics (30 and 40) for measuring errors in test surfaces (14) that differ from planes and spheres. A beam of light (28) having a planar shape is separated into two portions (32 and 34). One of the diffractive opt... | 06/01/1999 |
| 5889591 | Interferometric measurement of toric surfaces at grazing incidence Toric surfaces are mounted on a transparent support plate and measured at grazing incidence using a pair of leading and following diffractive optics for diffracting a test beam with respect to a reference beam. The leading diffractive optic diffracts rays... | 03/30/1999 |
| 5886786 | Subject positioning device for optical interferometer A subject positioning device for an interferometer includes a positioning mechanism for positioning a test surface within an axial extent of interference positions in the object beam path, which is less than double of a thickness of the subject, and at le... | 03/23/1999 |
| 5880841 | Method and apparatus for three-dimensional imaging using laser illumination interferometry A method for determining a range dimension of an object utilizing multiple wavelength interferometry to form an image of the object includes developing a discernible two-dimensional image from an interference pattern at selected points for each of a numbe... | 03/09/1999 |
| 5838442 | Device for determining the shape of the wave surface reflected by a substantially plane component The present invention relates to a device for determining the shape of the wave surface reflected by a substantially plane component (P), which includes a support (S) for the component (P), an interferometer (I), means for moving the support (S), and a co... | 11/17/1998 |
| 5835219 | Device for determining the shape of the wave surface transmitted by a substantially parallel-faced transparent component The present invention relates to a device for determining the shape of the wave surface transmitted by a substantially parallel-faced transparent component (P), which includes a support (S) for the component (P), an interferometer (I), means for moving th... | 11/10/1998 |
| 5793488 | Interferometer with compound optics for measuring cylindrical objects at oblique incidence Compound diffractive optics are used in an interferometer for simultaneously measuring multiple surfaces, making multiple measurements of individual surfaces, conveying test beams multiple times, and aligning pairs of the diffractive optics with each othe... | 08/11/1998 |
| 5786896 | Oblique incidence interferometer with fringe scan drive An oblique incidence interferometer capable of fringe scanning by use of a fringe scan drive association with a first or second diffraction grating member of the interferometer to drive the associated grating member step by step over a micrometric distanc... | 07/28/1998 |
| 5771095 | Optical test system including interferometer with micromirror and piezoelectric translator for controlling test path mirror An optical system for determining aberration in a source beam by comparison of a test beam with a reference beam. The optical system includes a test source for producing a source beam having a spacial intensity distribution including an aberration compone... | 06/23/1998 |
| 5734471 | Method of adjusting sample position in light wave interference apparatus When positioning a sample, a sample position adjusting light source section with a long coherence length is inserted into an optical system, and the sample position is adjusted such that the interference fringe pattern observed becomes a predetermined pat... | 03/31/1998 |
| 5719676 | Diffraction management for grazing incidence interferometer Test surfaces are measured at grazing incidence with an interferometer using diffractive optics for manipulating reference and test beams. A leading diffractive optic separates the reference and test beams, and a following diffractive optic recombines the... | 02/17/1998 |
| 5706085 | Method for the non-contact rapid and accurate acquisition of the surface topology of objects The method allows contact-less, precise and rapid measurement of the macroscopic shape of objects. The method is based on the Michelson-interferometer with the object mirror being replaced by the object to be measured. A low coherent light source is used.... | 01/06/1998 |
| 5675413 | Adjustable optical test apparatus including interferometer with micromirror and alignment observation system An adjustable optical system for determining aberration in a source beam by comparison of a test beam with a reference beam. The system includes a test source for producing a source beam having a spacial intensity distribution including an aberration comp... | 10/07/1997 |
| 5673144 | Oblique viewing microscope system An improved oblique viewing microscope system including a diffraction grating that oscillates in the plane of the grating and/or an illuminator that oscillates the light rays directed to the object synchronized with the grating period. Additionally, a low... | 09/30/1997 |
| 5671050 | Method and apparatus for profiling surfaces using diffracative optics Optical system for measuring surface topography, comprised of a light source (30), a diffractive optical assembly (70,72,73) comprised of two or more diffraction gratings, holograms or like diffractive optics (120, 130;122, 132;123, 133), electronic detec... | 09/23/1997 |
| 5666197 | Apparatus and methods employing phase control and analysis of evanescent illumination for imaging and metrology of subwavelength lateral surface topography Imaging and metrology devices employ controlled phase shifting and analysis of evanescent light to provide enhanced ability to image and/or resolve substantially subwavelength lateral features on a surface illuminated by the evanescent light. The light wa... | 09/09/1997 |
| 5661559 | Optical surface detection for magnetic disks An automatic surface inspection apparatus comprises a light source that provides a coherent light beam that is spit and then recombined in a prism to generate an interference pattern. A cylindrical lens projects the interference pattern onto the surface o... | 08/26/1997 |
| 5654798 | Interferometric measurement of surfaces with diffractive optics at grazing incidence An interferometer (10) employs diffractive optics (30 and 40) for measuring errors in test surfaces (14) that differ from planes and spheres. A beam of light (28) is separated into two portions (32 and 34). One of the diffractive optics (30) can be used t... | 08/05/1997 |
| 5619327 | Testing a metal component for cold compression of the metal The invention provides a method of testing a metal component (1) for cold compression of the metal when used, for example for fatigue enhancement. The component defines a generally smooth surface (6) and includes a region (22), eg an aperture, subject to ... | 04/08/1997 |
| 5598265 | Method for profiling an object surface using a large equivalent wavelength and system therefor A method and system for profiling an object surface at a convenient working distance to the object using desensitized interference images. The optical profiler system comprises a desensitized interferometer characterized by an equivalent wavelength much l... | 01/28/1997 |
| 5589938 | Method and apparatus for optical interferometric measurements with reduced sensitivity to vibration A method and system for providing interferometric measurements having reduced sensitivity to vibrations. An interference pattern from an interferometer (35) is amplitude split into first and second interferograms and imaged onto first and second detectors... | 12/31/1996 |
| 5583639 | Optical device for checking the flatness and smoothness of a surface Device for checking of flatness and smoothness of an item (10) comprising components for measuring of flatness with an interference method and for measuring of smoothness with a reflection method, where the item (10) or a mirror (23) close to the item can... | 12/10/1996 |
| 5579112 | Optical tomographic imaging equipment having a light source unit for generating a light wave having a predetermined coherence length An optical tomographic imaging equipment including a light-receiving unit having a plurality of light-receiving elements, and an electronic focusing control unit. The electronic focusing control unit provides a control such that a plurality of light-recei... | 11/26/1996 |
| 5568256 | Method and apparatus utilizing an optical stage for topographic surface analysis A method and apparatus for topographic surface analysis including at least ne light source for radiating light, a first light-distributing surface of a first diffraction grating for receiving light from the at least one light source and for reflecting a fi... | 10/22/1996 |
| 5561525 | Interferometer for observing the interference pattern of a surface under test utilizing an adjustable aperture stop An interferometer is used for observing the shape of a surface to be detected with the desired spatial resolution. A variable aperture stop is arranged at a Fourier transform image plane of the surface to be detected within an imaging optical system for f... | 10/01/1996 |
| 5546186 | Apparatus for holographic interferometry suitable for inspection of cylindrical optical surfaces A holographic interferometry apparatus for inspecting cylindrical optical surfaces. Laser light is split into regular reflection light and diffraction light by a holographic optical element. A reference reflector plate receives the regular reflection ligh... | 08/13/1996 |
| 5532821 | Testing of recessed surfaces at grazing incidence An interferometer (10) includes a prism extender (50) appended to a prism (32) for directing a beam of light (42) into a recess (44) of a test piece (34). A first portion (42a) of the beam (42) refracts from a reference surface (54) of the prism extender ... | 07/02/1996 |
| 5526116 | Method and apparatus for profiling surfaces using diffractive optics which impinges the beams at two different incident angles Optical system for measuring surface topography, comprised of a light source (30), a diffractive optical assembly (70, 72, 73) comprised of two or more diffraction gratings, holograms or like diffractive optics (120, 130; 122, 132; 123, 133), electronic d... | 06/11/1996 |
| 5523842 | Method of interference fringe analysis for determining aspect of surface geometry A method for interference fringe analysis in which a subject surface is located in parallel to a reference surface and multiply step shifted a specific distance for each step to derive data and images of interference fringes for determining aspects of the... | 06/04/1996 |
| 5519491 | Process for measuring the inclination of boundary areas in an optical system using interferometry to extract reflections from disturbance-generating boundary areas The description relates to the measurement of the inclination of boundary areas in an optical system and a device for implementing the process. Starting with an auto-collimation process which determines the inclination of this boundary area in relation to... | 05/21/1996 |
| 5493398 | Device for observing test-piece surfaces by the speckle-shearing-method for the measurement of deformations Subject of the invention is a shearing measurement head, which has a very compact structure by the use of concave mirrors in a Michelson interferometer arrangement, allows phase-shifting and can be operated optionally using an attached objective.... | 02/20/1996 |
| 5491552 | Optical interferometer employing mutually coherent light source and an array detector for imaging in strongly scattered media In an optical imaging apparatus for the investigation of strongly scattering media, in particular biological tissue samples, with at least one-dimensional position resolution in a depth direction of a measuring object, with a radiation source for radiatin... | 02/13/1996 |
| 5489984 | Differential ranging measurement system and method utilizing ultrashort pulses An optical correlator is disclosed that, in combination with an ultrafast optical pulsed source, can be used for estimating the differential position of remote objects with submicron precision, as opposed to measuring the absolute distance. The system inc... | 02/06/1996 |
| 5488476 | Apparatus and method using optical diffraction to measure surface roughness Apparatus for measuring surface roughness utilizes diffraction patterns derived from the surface under test. The energies in the different orders are detected and processed utilizing various different algorithms dependent upon a number of factors such as ... | 01/30/1996 |
| 5471303 | Combination of white-light scanning and phase-shifting interferometry for surface profile measurements Interferometric apparatus that combines white-light VSI and single-wavelength PSI capabilities to improve the accuracy of height measurements in steep regions and in areas with large inter-pixel steps on the test surface. The technique consists of perform... | 11/28/1995 |
| 5467184 | Method of large deformation measurement using speckle interferometry A method of deformation measurement using speckle interferometry comprises the steps of forming a series of speckle images at specified time intervals by using an interferometer to superpose a laser beam reflected from the object whose deformation is to b... | 11/14/1995 |
| 5465147 | Method and apparatus for acquiring images using a ccd detector array and no transverse scanner An apparatus and method for acquiring an at least one dimensional digital image of a region of an object using an optical source which outputs a first optical beam having a short coherence length. A splitter splits the first optical beam into a reference ... | 11/07/1995 |
| 5459564 | Apparatus and method for inspecting end faces of optical fibers and optical fiber connectors An inspection and measurement device including an interferometer with a parfocal, parcentral zoom lens is adapted to inspect and measure an end surface of an optical fiber or connector. With the optical fiber or connector supported on an xyz stage, the in... | 10/17/1995 |
| 5428444 | Real time interferometric comparator A real time interferometric comparator apparatus. The apparatus generally includes means for projecting at least a first optical signal onto a complexly shaped surface such as a curved surface of a large reflector antenna of a satellite system, to thereby... | 06/27/1995 |
| 5418612 | Method of and apparatus for determining surface contour of diffusely reflecting objects A method of determining surface contour of diffusely reflecting objects is realized by interferometric comparison of beams reflected from a reference mirror and from an object (11), by changing the optical path length of the object beam, by focusing the o... | 05/23/1995 |
