Homodyne displacement measuring interferometer probe for optical coordinate measuring machine with tip and tilt sensitivity

In this proceedings, we present a 3DoF (one linear, two angular) optical probe for measuring freeform optics in conjunction with an optical coordinate measuring machine (OCMM). This probe uses homodyne interferometry in a Michelson configuration and position sensing detection to simultaneously measure displacement, tip, and tilt. The goal of this work is to investigate point-to-point methods for measuring freeform optics and establish a probing methodology that can perform self-alignment with respect to the local optical surface. We present the design and preliminary benchtop validation of the probe's performance. Benchtop validation shows successful measurements with 5 nm linear and 20 μrad angular noise levels, with a 15 μm spot size. A CMOS sensor is used for visual confirmation of proper focus on measurement surface to minimize initial defocus error. A PSD detects linear horizontal and vertical displacement of the reflected beam from the measurement surface using autocollimation. In-phase and quadrature signals are measured by two photodetectors and post-processed to obtain displacement information. Periodic error caused by polarization effects and beam mixing is compensated by FPGA-based signal processing.