IP Library Granted Patent US 12680809
Granted Patent B2
US 12680809 · App. 18/916,775 · Granted Jul 14, 2026

Optical interference measurement device

Inventors: Yasuhiro Kabetani (Osaka, JP); Takashi Urashima (Osaka, JP)
Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
G01B9/02091G01B2290/25
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12680809
App. No.
18/916,775
Granted
Jul 14, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

When light adjusted at equal frequency intervals by optical comb generation filter 205 is incident and emitted from measurement head 207 to measurement target W, the light adjusted at equal frequency intervals by optical comb generation filter 205 is divided into measurement light and reference light by light division unit 208 , and interference light in which reflected light of the measurement light from measurement target W and the reference light are multiplexed is detected by interference light detection unit 210.

Claims (13)

1 . An optical interference measurement device comprising:

an optical division unit that divides light into measurement light and reference light, the light being emitted from a low coherence light source and adjusted at equal frequency intervals; and

an interference light detection unit that detects interference light in which reflected light from a measurement target and the reference light are multiplexed,

wherein

a distance from a zero point to the measurement target is set within a range from a first distance to a second distance,

the zero point is a point at which a signal optical path length of signal light that is the measurement light coincides with a reference optical path length of the reference light,

the first distance is obtained by subtracting a measurable range determined by an optical frequency resolution of the interference light detection unit from a first value that is an integer multiple of a second value obtained by multiplying a reciprocal of a mode interval of an optical comb generation filter by a light speed, and

the second distance is obtained by adding the measurable range to the first value.

2 . The optical interference measurement device according to claim 1 , wherein the low coherence light source is any one of a super luminescent diode, an ultrashort pulse laser, and a super continuum light source, and light emitted from the light source is the low coherence light.

3 . The optical interference measurement device according to claim 1 , wherein the light division unit is disposed between the measurement target and a measurement head.

4 . The optical interference measurement device according to claim 1 , further comprising an intensity adjustment mechanism that adjusts intensity of signal light that is the measurement light,

wherein the intensity adjustment mechanism is disposed at a position at a distance of a half of the value obtained by multiplying the reciprocal of the mode interval of the optical comb generation filter by the light speed from the zero point.

5 . The optical interference measurement device according to claim 4 , wherein the optical comb generation filter is a Fabry-Perot filter with a range of finesse of 2 to 20, and the optical comb generation filter is a mechanism in which a mode interval thereof is randomly modulated.