A two-dimensional surface profile imaging technique based on heterodyne interferometer

A two-dimensional surface profile imaging technique based on heterodyne interferometer is proposed. A piezo translator vibrated grating is used to generate a heterodyne signal. A high speed CCD camera is used to extract the interference signal using a five step method. The uncertainty in the displacement measurement is approximately 0.035 μm within a measurement range of 1.7 μm, confirming the two dimensional heterodyne interferometer is valid for measuring the surface profile.
The method is also available for low coherence heterodyne interferometer due to the optical frequency shifts caused by the vibration of grating independent on the wavelength.