Measurement of surface profile in vibrating environment with instantaneous phase shifting interferometry

In-process measurement has been the requirement of the precision industries, but due to vibrations while manufacturing, in-process measurement has been difficult to achieve. There is little work on in-process measurement using phase shifting interferometry, as phase shifting is extremely sensitive to vibrations. In this work, the advantage of the developed non-mechanical and instantaneous phase shifting interferometry is felt while measuring surface profile of large flat surfaces under vibrating conditions which can be extended for in-process measurement of surface profile. A near common path optical configuration is achieved and the effect of the environment is reduced. Moreover, the measurement of phase is instantaneous which increases the versatility of this technique for measuring vibrating objects. Profile measurements were carried out on a smooth mirror surface excited with vibrations of different frequencies and the technique was found to be immune to vibrations of up to 1000 Hz.