Definition
Interferometry is a process in which the superposition of two or more waves (beams) of sufficiently coherent electromagnetic radiation provides information about the waves and/or their differences.
Theory and Application
In modern manufacturing, interferometry is commonly encountered in:
Definition, realization, and dissemination of standards of length and form
Measurement of displacement for the control or calibration of production and measuring machines
Measurement of the surface form of optics and precision machined metal and other components
Measurement of surface texture
Before considering each of these areas in turn, the fundamentals of interferometry will be very briefly reviewed. Most applications of interferometry in manufacturing use “light” ranging from the UV to the infrared (i.e., wavelengths from ∼350 nm to 10.6 mm); in principle everything discussed here applies at any wavelength for which...
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Evans, C.J. (2019). Interferometry. In: Chatti, S., Laperrière, L., Reinhart, G., Tolio, T. (eds) CIRP Encyclopedia of Production Engineering. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-53120-4_16700
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-53120-4_16700
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