Increasing the range of unambiguity in step-height measurement with multiple-wavelength interferometry-application to absolute long gauge block measurement

An instrument for step-height measurement by multiple-wavelength interferometry is described. The addition of a 1152-nm wavelength to a multiple-wavelength scheme applying wavelengths of 633, 612, and 543 nm relaxes the tolerance range of the required preliminary measurement to +/- 140 mum, if the total uncertainty in the fringe fraction measurement can be kept below 2%. For larger fringe fraction measurement uncertainty, numerical simulations show that the integer number of interference orders can still be determined unambiguously if the range in the preliminary knowledge of the length has been correspondingly reduced. The interferometer instrument is described, and experimental data are presented in the context of long gauge block calibration at the National Research Council of Canada. (C) 2003 Optical Society of America.