Differential Plane Mirror Interferometer

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to apparatus for the measurement of optical path length changes between two plane mirror surfaces. More particularly, the invention relates to optical apparatus which is useful for high accuracy displacement metrology using interferometry.

2. The Prior Art

An interferometer is a basic instrument for most high accuracy displacement measurements in dilatometry, material stability studies, the machine tool industry, and in the semiconductor fabrication industry. One type of interferometer representative of the current state-of-the-art is the differential plane mirror interferometer which measures the optical path length changes between two external mirrors and which is described in R. R. Baldwin and G. J. Siddall, "A double pass attachment for the linear and plane interferometer," Proc. SPIE, Vol. 480, pp. 78-83 (May 1984). A conventional differential plane mirror interferometer consists of a fixed plane mirror and a movable plane mirror, which form the interferometer cavity, and auxiliary optical components (retroreflectors, wave plates, mirrors, beamsplitters) This type of interferometer has an inherent optical resolution of one quarter of the wavelength of the light used and has particularly high stability which is necessary for the ever increasing demand for improved accuracy. Thusly it is particularly insensitive to any tilt of the plane mirrors and motion of the auxiliary optic components.

The conventional differential plane mirror interferometer is, however, overly complicated, requiring many auxiliary optical components thereby subjecting the measurement beams to many reflections. These drawbacks ultimately limit the accuracy that can be achieved due to a lower signal-to-noise in the measurement signal as a result of reduced optical beam power and polarization leakage.

The present invention retains the basic plane mirror interferometer cavity of the conventional differential plane mirror; however, the use of a shear plate in the present invention not only reduces the number of optical elements but also reduces the number of reflections by nearly 50%. The improvements of the present invention thusly further increase the accuracy that can be attained with this type of interferometer.

In accordance with the instant invention, I provide a differential plane mirror interferometer system capable of measuring accurately either changes in length or changes in optical length comprising: (1) a source of an input beam with two stabilized optical frequencies, with the two different frequencies orthogonally polarized, and with a frequency difference between the two frequencies equal to f.sub.o, (2) means in said source, either a frequency stabilized electronic oscillator or a photoelectric mixer with electronic amplifier, for providing an electrical reference signal which corresponds to the frequency difference, f.sub.o, between said two stabilized optical frequencies; (3) means, most preferably a tilted parallel plate or shear plate with regions of reflection antireflection and polarizing coatings, for converting said input beam into two separated, parallel, orthogonally polarized beams; (4) means, most preferably a half-wave retardation plate, located in one of said separated beams, for converting said two separated, parallel, orthogonally polarized beams into two separated, parallel, beams with the same polarization; (5) means, most preferably a polarizing beamsplitter, quarter-wave retardation plate, and retroreflector, for causing each of said separated, parallel beams with the same polarization to be reflected twice by one of two plane mirrors, respectively, to produce two parallel output beams with the same polarization; (6) most preferably a half-wave retardation plate, located in one of said separated, parallel output beams for converting said two separated, parallel output beams of the same polarization into two separated, parallel output beams with orthogonal polarization; (7) means, most preferably the aforementioned tilted plate with regions of reflection antireflection and polarizing coatings, for converting said two separated, parallel, orthogonally polarized output beams into a single output beam in which the phase difference between the two frequency components of said single output beam is directly proportional to the optical path length between said two plane mirrors; (8) means, most preferably a polarizer, for mixing said orthogonal components of said single output beam; (9) means, most preferably a photoelectric detector, to produce an electrical measurement signal; and (10) means, most preferably a phase meter/accumulator, to indicate the difference in phase between said electrical reference signal and said electrical measurement signal, said difference in phase being proportional to the optical path length changes between said two plane mirrors.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 depicts in schematic form one embodiment of the instant invention where all optical beams are in a single plane.

FIG. 2 depicts in schematic form a second embodiment of the instant invention where the optical beams are not in a single plane.

FIG. 1 depicts in schematic form one embodiment of the instant invention where all optical beams are in a single plane. While the apparatus has application for a wide range of radiation sources, the following description is taken by way of example with respect to an optical measuring system. Light source (10), which most preferably uses a laser, emits input beam (12) which is comprised of two stabilized frequency components which are orthogonally polarized as indicated by the dot and arrow, see, for example, Bagley et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,458,259 issued July 26, 1969, and commonly owned, copending U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 710,859, entitled "Apparatus to Transform a single Frequency, Linearly Polarized Laser Beam Into a Beam with Two Orthogonally Polarized Frequencies" filed Mar. 12, 1985; U.S. Ser. No. 710,947, entitled "Heterodyne Interferometer System", filed Mar. 12, 1985; and U.S. Ser. No. 710,927, entitled "Apparatus to Transform a Single Frequency, Linearly Polarized Laser Beam with Two Orthogonally Polarized Frequencies", filed Mar. 12, 1985 all of which are specifically incorporated by refernce herein in their entirety. Source (10) provides an electrical reference signal (11) which corresponds to the frequency difference between the two stabilized frequencies.

Beam (12) is incident on shear plate (16) which is a tilted parallel plate glass substrate with optically flat surfaces (17) and (18) which are mutually parallel. The function of tilted parallel plate (16) is to spatially separate the two frequency components using conventional polarization techniques. Beam (12) passes through surface (1) to become beam (13) which has the same polarization as beam (12). Surface (17) has an antireflection coating (21A) over the region where beam (12) passes through it. Polarizing coating (23A) on surface (18) splits beam (13) so that one polarized frequency component is transmitted as beam (30) whereas the other orthogonally polarized frequency component is reflected as beam (14). Beam (14) is totally reflected from reflective coating (25A) on surface (17) to become beam (15). Beam (15) passes through surface (18) to become beam (31) which has the same polarization as beam (15). Surface (18) has an antireflection coating (27A) over the region where beam (15) passes through it.

Beam (31) passes through half-wave retardation plate (29A) which rotates the linear polarization of beam (31) by 90.degree. so that resultant beam (33) has the same polarization (but still a different frequency) as beam (30). Beams (30) and (33) enter polarizing beamsplitter (40) with polarizing coating (42) and are transmitted as beams (34) and (35) respectively. Beams (34) and (35) pass through quarter-wave retardation plate (44) and are converted into circularly polarized beams (50) and (51), respectively. Beam (51) is reflected from fixed reference mirror (71) to become beam (51A) while beam (50) is reflected from movable mirror (70) affixed to the stage whose relative position is being measured to become beam (50A). Beams (50A) and (51A) pass back through quarter-wave retardation plate (44) and are converted back into linearly polarized beams which are orthogonally polarized to the original incident beams (34) and (35). Beams (50A) and (51A) are reflected by polarizing coating (42) to become beams (52) and (53). Beams (52) and (53) are reflected by retroreflector (45) to become beams (54) and (55). Beams (54) and (55) are reflected by polarizing coating (42) to become beams (56) and (57). Beams (56) and (57) pass through quarter-wave retardation plate (44) and are converted into circularly polarized beams (58) and (59).

Beam (59) is reflected from fixed reference mirror (71) to become beam (59A) while beam (58) is reflected from movable mirror (70) to become beam (58A). Beams (58A) and (59A) pass back through quarter-wave retardation plate (44) and are converted back into linearly polarized beams which are polarized the same as the original incident beams (34) and (35). Beams (58A) and (59A) are transmitted by polarized coating (42) and leave polarizing beamsplitter (40) as beams (60) and (63). Beams (60) and (63) are mutually parallel by virtue of the inherent optical properties of retroflector (45), independent of any tilt that may be present between mirrors (70) and (71). Beam (60) passes through half-wave retardation plate (29B) which rotates the linear polarization of beam (60) by 90.degree. so that resultant beam (62) has a linear polarization which is orthogonal to beam (63). Beam (62) passes through surface (18) to become beam (64) which has the same polarization as beam (62). Surface (18) has an antireflection coating (27B) over the region where beam (62) passes through it. Beam (64)is totally reflected from reflective coating (25B) to become beam (65). Surface (18) has reflective coating (25B) over the region where beam (64) intersects it. Beams (65) and (63) are recombined to form beam (66) by polarizing coating (23B). Surface (17) has polarizing coating (23B) over the region where beams (65) and (63) intersect. Beam (66) passes through surface (17) t become beam (80). Surface (17) has an antireflection coating (21B) over the region where beam (66) passes through it.

Beam (80), like input beam (12), has two frequency components which are orthogonally polarized. Each frequency component has traversed exactly the same optical path length (through air and glass) except for the optical path, nl, between mirrors (70) and (71) where n is the index of refraction of the medium between mirrors (70) and (71) and l is the distance between mirrors (70) and (71). The optical path length corresponding to this distance, l, results in a phase difference between the two frequency components of beam (80). Motion of mirror (70) causes this phase difference to vary. This phase variation is directly proportional to the distance, l, moved by mirror (70) for a constant n and is measured by passing beam (80) through polarizer (81), oriented at 45.degree. to each polarization component, which mixes the two orthogonally polarized frequency components in beam (80) to give beam (82). Similarly, if l is fixed and n varies, then the phase variation is directly proportional to the change in n. The interference between the two frequency components is detected by photodetector (83) as a sinusoidal intensity variation with a frequency equal to the difference frequency between the two components of beam (12). The variation of phase between sinusoidal electrical output (85) and sinusoidal electrical reference signal (11) is measured by the phase meter/accumulator (90), see for example the aforementioned commonly owned copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 710,928, to provide the output (92) which is directly proportional to the change in optical path length between mirrors (70) and (71). This optical configuration is extremely insensitive to measurement error because the changes in the other optial components, such as those induced mechanically or thermally, affect both frequency components equally and therefore have no influence on the measured phase variation (92). In addition, environmental effects, such as variations in the refractive index of air, can be minimized by placing mirror (71) close to mirror (70) to reduce the optical path length difference between the two frequency components. It should be noted that half-wave retardation plates (29A) and (29B) could be a single element with a hole in it to allow beam (63) to pass through it unaffected.

FIG. 2 depicts in schematic form a second embodiment of the instant invention where the optical beams are not in a single plane. This configuration permits a more compact optical system. The description of this figure is identical to FIG. 1 and is numbered correspondingly. The only differences are that now coatings (21A) and (21B), (23A) and (23B), (25A) and (25B), and (27A) and (27B) in FIG. 1 become coatings (21), (23), (25), and (27) respectively; and half-wave retardation plates (29A) and (29B) in FIG. 1 become single half-wave retardation plate (29).

Thus, in FIG. 2, light source (10) which as previously mentioned, most preferably uses a laser, emits input beam (12) which is comprised of two stabilized frequency components which are orthogonally polarized as indicated by the two arrows. Source (10) also provides an electrical reference signal (11) which again corresponds to the frequency difference between the two stabilized frequencies. Beam (12) is incident on shear plate (16) which is a tilted parallel plate glass substrate with optically flat surfaces (17) and (18) which are mutually parallel. The function of tilted parallel plate (16) is to spatially separate the two frequency components using conventional polarization techniques. This, in the embodiment of FIG. 2, beam (12) is divided by shear plate (16) with aid of antireflection coatings (21) and (27), polarizing coating (23) and reflective coating (25), to become vertically polarized beam (30) and horizontally polarized beam (31). Beam (31) passes through the single half-wave retardation plate (29) which rotates the linear polarization of beam (31) by 90.degree. so that resultant beam (33) has the same polarization (but still a different frequency) as beam (30). Beams (30) and (33) enter polarizing beamsplitter (40) with polarizing coating (42) and are transmitted as beams (34) and (35) respectively. Beams (34) and (35) pass through quarter-wave retardation plate (44) and are converted into circularly polarized beams (50) and (51), respectively. Beam (51) is reflected from fixed reference mirror (71) to become beam (51A) while beam (50) is reflected from movable mirror (70) affixed to the stage whose relative position is being measured to become (50A). Beams (50A) and (51A) pass back through quarter-wave retardation plate (44) and are converted back into linearly polarized beams that are orthogonally polarized to the original incident beams (34) and (35). Beams (50A) and (51A) are reflected by polarizing coating (42) to become beams (52) and (53). Beams (52) and (53) are reflected by retroreflector (45) to become beams (54) and (55). Beams (54) and (55) are reflected by polarizing coating (42) to become beams (56) and (57). Beams (56) and (57) pass through quarter-wave retardation plate (44) and are converted into circularly polarized beams (58) and (59). Beam (59) is reflected from fixed reference mirror (71) to become beam (59A) while beam (58) is reflected from movable mirror (70) to become beam (58A). Beams (58A) and (59A) pass back through quarter-wave retardation plate (44) and are converted back into linearly polarized beams that are polarized the same as the original incident beams (34) and (35). Beams (58A) and (59A) are transmitted by polarized coating (42) and leave polarizing beamsplitter (40) as beams (60) and (63). Beams (60) and (63) are mutually parallel by virtue of the inherent optical properties of retroreflector (45), independent of any tilt that may be present between mirrors (70) and (71). Beam (60) passes through the single half-wave retardation plate (29) which rotates the linear polarization of beam (60) by 90.degree. so that resultant beam (62) has a linear polarization which is orthogonal to beam (63). Beams (62) and (63) are combined by shear plate (16), with the aid of antireflection coatings (21) and (27), polarizing coating (23) and reflective coating (25), to become beam (80).

Once again beam (80) in the embodiment of FIG. 2, like input beam (12), has two frequency components which are orthogonally polarized. Each frequency component, as was true with the FIG. 1 embodiment, has traversed exactly the same optical path length (through air and glass) except for the optical path, nl, between mirrors (70) and (71) where n is the index of refraction of the medium between mirrors (70) and (71) and l is the distance between mirrors (70) and (71). The optical path length corresponding to this distance, l, results in a phase difference between the two frequency components of beam (80). Motion of mirror (70) causes this phase difference to vary. This phase variation is directly proportional to the distance, L, moved by mirror (70) for a constant n and is measured by passing beam (80) through polarizer (81), oriented at 45.degree. to each polarization component, which mixes the two orthogonally polarized frequency components in beam (80) to give beam (82). Similarly, if l is fixed and n varies, then the phase variation is directly proportional to the change in n. As was also true on the FIG. 1 embodiment, the interference between the two frequency components is detected by photodetector (83) as a sinusoidal intensity variation with a frequency equal to the difference frequency between the two components of beam (12). The variation of phase between sinusoidal electrical output (85) and sinusoidal electrical reference signal (11) is measured by the phase meter/accumulator (90), to provide the output (92) which as previously mentioned with respect to the FIG. 1 embodiment, is directly proportional to the change in optical path length, nl, between mirrors (70) and (71). Thus, both the FIG. 1 and 2 embodiments employ optical configurations which are extremely insensitive to measurement error because changes in the other optical components, such as those induced mechanically or thermally, affect both frequency components equally and therefore have no influence on the measured phase variation (92). In addition, as was previously mentioned with reference to the FIG. 1 embodiment, environment effects, such as variations in the refractive index of air, can be minimized by placing mirror (71) close to mirror (70) to reduce the optical path length difference between the two frequency components.

The principal advantages of the instant invention are: (1) smaller number of optical components, (2) simpler beam paths, (3) fewer reflections, (4) greater light throughput efficiency, (5) lower waveform distortion, (6) reduced optical leakage, (7) reduced non-linearity errors, and (8) lower cost.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, obviously modification can be made therein, without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.