Device and method for measuring relative movement

1. A device for measuring movement of an object and the device relative to each other, the device comprising:

at least one laser, having a laser cavity, that generates a measuring beam,

a converging element that is configured to converge the measuring beam in an action plane and to converge, in the laser cavity, measuring beam radiation reflected by the object, to generate a self-mixing effect in the laser, and

a measuring element that is configured to measure the result of the self-mixing effect, which effect is determined by the relative movement, wherein:

the converging element is arranged to focus the measuring beam over a distance range that extends beyond the coherence length of the measuring beam radiation, and

the measuring element is configured to determine the movement of the object based on a frequency difference between the measuring beam and the measuring beam radiation reflected by an object in the laser cavity.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the measuring element is configured to determine a mean frequency shift of the noise spectrum generated by the reflected measuring beam radiation.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the measuring element is configured to determine a momentary frequency shift of the noise spectrum generated by the reflected measuring beam radiation.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the measuring element is configured to perform a time-domain detection of frequency shifted and non-frequency shifted reflected measuring beam radiation.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the measuring element is configured to determine a distance between the device and the object.

6. The device of claim 1 , including a controller that is configured to control the at least one laser.

7. The device of claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to supply the at least one laser with a periodically varying electrical current that causes a periodic variation of the measuring beam wavelength, such that a spectrum of the reflected measuring beam radiation overlaps substantially with the measuring beam radiation generated by the at least one laser.

8. The device of claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to supply the at least one laser with a periodically varying electrical current that causes a periodic variation of the measuring beam wavelength, such that a spectrum of the reflected measuring beam radiation overlaps at most partially with the measuring beam radiation generated by the at least one laser.

9. The device of claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to supply the at least one laser with a pulsed current.

10. The device of claim 1 , arranged and configured to be selectively operated in one of a first and second detection mode, the first detection mode being a coherent detection mode and the second detection mode being an incoherent detection mode.

11. The device of claim 1 , wherein the converging means has a fixed focus.

12. The device of claim 1 , wherein the converging means has a selectively variable focus so as to selectively focus the measuring beam radiation at or beyond the coherence length of the measuring beam radiation.

13. A method for measuring movement of an object and the device relative to each other, the method comprising:

generating a measuring beam using at least one laser having a laser cavity,

converging the measuring beam in an action plane over a distance that extends beyond the coherence length of the measuring beam radiation,

converging, in the laser cavity, measuring beam radiation reflected by the object to generate a self-mixing effect in the laser, and

determining a mean frequency difference between the measuring beam and the measuring beam radiation reflected by an object in the laser cavity, the relative movement being determined by the frequency difference.