Subaperture stitching wavelength scanning interferometry for 3D surface measurement of complex-shaped optics

Subaperture stitching wavelength scanning interferometry with a high-accuracy multi-axis position stage is proposed for measuring complex surface shapes such as aspherical and freeform optics. Typical optical approaches suffer due to poor fringe visibility when it comes to complex-shaped optics. Our proposed technique allows a proper solution to this challenging issue by keeping the optical probe perpendicular to the surface slope, which provides good fringe visibility during the wavelength scan regardless of how steep the surface is. Also, the full-aperture surface map of a test sample can be obtained by stitching multiple subaperture measurement results with high precision. We tested and verified our method by measuring several representative samples and comparing the measurement results with a well-established stylus method.

Automated summary

This new method combines subaperture stitching technology and wavelength scanning interferometry with a high-precision multi-axis position stage, suitable for measuring complex surface shapes. By keeping the optical probe perpendicular to the surface slope, it effectively solves the poor fringe visibility issue on complex optics, providing accurate and reliable measurement results.