Hua Tan

Optical-fiber interferometer for velocity measurements with picosecond resolution

The conventional Doppler laser-interference velocimeters are made up of traditional optical elements such as lenses and mirrors and will generally restrict its applications in multipoint velocity measurements. By transfering the light from multimode optical fiber to single-mode optical fiber and using the currently available conventional telecommunications elements, the authors have constructed a velocimeter called all-fiber displacement interferometer system for any reflector. The unique interferometer system is only made up of fibers or fiber-coupled components. The viability of this technique is demonstrated by measuring the velocity of an interface moving at velocity of 2133m∕s with 50ps time resolution. In addition, the concept of optical-fiber mode conversion would provide a way to develop various optical-fiber sensors.

A compact all-fiber displacement interferometer for measuring the foil velocity driven by laser.

A compact all-fiber displacement interferometer (AFDI) system, working at 1550 nm, has been developed and tested, and its working fundamentals will be introduced in this letter. In contrast with other models of fiber-optic velocity interferometer system, AFDI adopts a single-mode optic fiber pigtail as the detect head, diameter of which is only 1 mm, to collect directly the reflect laser beam from the moving surface, which makes this instrument have some unique advantages in observing the point movements of a small flyer. Preliminary experiments using this instrument to measure the velocity history of a small aluminum thin foil driven by a nanosecond pulse laser were conducted successfully, the precise velocity history profile deduced from the sharp interference fringes and the nanometer resolution in displacement gives an eloquent proof of its eminent abilities. The field depth (approximately 2 mm) of our AFDI is a little smaller than the DISAR [Weng et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 111101 (2006)] system, but its compact structure makes it much convenient to operate. Further applications for multipoints velocity history measurements of small targets are under consideration.

New all-fiber velocimeter

A new all-fiber velocity interferometer system for any reflector (AFVISAR) was developed. It was conceived and realized with the purpose of using it as the basic measuring element of a complete system for multiple point velocity measurements. Its main features are that it works at 532nm and partly adopts the multimode optical fiber. The velocimeter consists of only fibers or fiber coupled components and has no optic elements such as optic lenses or reflectors. It is therefore very compact and easy to operate. Unlike the conventional AFVISAR, which uses single-mode optic fiber components, the laser beam in this new interferometer system arrives at and reflects from the target surface through a multimode optical fiber component, and then enters and interferes in a [3×3] single-mode fiber coupler. Its working principle is elaborated on in this article. Preliminary experiments using a split Hopkins pressure bar (SHPB) device show that the new interferometer can successfully measure the velocity profiles of th...

Optical-fiber frequency domain interferometer with nanometer resolution and centimeter measuring range

A new optical-fiber frequency domain interferometer (OFDI) device for accurate measurement of the absolute distance between two stationary objects, with centimeter measuring range and nanometer resolution, has been developed. Its working principle and on-line data processing method were elaborated. The new OFDI instrument was constructed all with currently available commercial communication products. It adopted the wide-spectrum amplified spontaneous emission light as the light source and optical-fiber tip as the test probe. Since this device consists of only fibers or fiber coupled components, it is very compact, convenient to operate, and easy to carry. By measuring the single-step length of a translation stage and the thickness of standard gauge blocks, its ability in implementing nanometer resolution and centimeter measuring range on-line measurements was validated.

Optic-microwave mixing velocimeter for superhigh velocity measurement

The phenomenon that a light beam reflected off a moving object experiences a Doppler shift in its frequency underlies practical interferometric techniques for remote velocity measurements, such as velocity interferometer system for any reflector (VISAR), displacement interferometer system for any reflector (DISAR), and photonic Doppler velocimetry (PDV). While VISAR velocimeters are often bewildered by the fringe loss upon high-acceleration dynamic process diagnosis, the optic-fiber velocimeters such as DISAR and PDV, on the other hand, are puzzled by high velocity measurement over 10 km/s, due to the demand for the high bandwidth digitizer. Here, we describe a new optic-microwave mixing velocimeter (OMV) for super-high velocity measurements. By using currently available commercial microwave products, we have constructed a simple, compact, and reliable OMV device, and have successfully obtained, with a digitizer of bandwidth 6 GH only, the precise velocity history of an aluminum flyer plate being accelerated up to 11.2 km/s in a three stage gas-gun experiment.

Dynamic frequency-domain interferometer for absolute distance measurements with high resolution

A unique dynamic frequency-domain interferometer for absolute distance measurement has been developed recently. This paper presents the working principle of the new interferometric system, which uses a photonic crystal fiber to transmit the wide-spectrum light beams and a high-speed streak camera or frame camera to record the interference stripes. Preliminary measurements of harmonic vibrations of a speaker, driven by a radio, and the changes in the tip clearance of a rotating gear wheel show that this new type of interferometer has the ability to perform absolute distance measurements both with high time- and distance-resolution.

A new kind of passive synchronization time-dependent spectral analysis method and instrumentation

A new kind of time dependent spectral analysis method and instrumentation has been developed. A special passive synchronization mechanical modulator was used to split measured light into a series of sub-beams. Then the sub-beams were dispersed, finally detected by 2D CCD detector. A time resolution of 400 ns, and a measured wavelength range of 300 - 700 nm have been obtained in the experiment of a Xe flash lamp.

New kind of spectral analysis instrument for measuring time-resolved spectrum of single-pulse light

A new kind of spectral analytical instrument has been developed for measuring pulse time-resolved spectra. In this instrument, a special light beam modulator translates the time-distribution of optical spectra into the space- distribution of light intensity, and then the time-dependent spectra is detected by an ordinary 2D CCD device. The time resolution of 25 microsecond(s) and the wavelength range of 224-824 nm have been attained in the experiment of a Xe flash-lamp emission.