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NPL Flatness Interferometer Overview

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153 views2 pages

NPL Flatness Interferometer Overview

Uploaded by

jjeevananthankolanji
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The NPL (National Physical Laboratory) flatness interferometer is a device used to check the flatness

of gauge surfaces. It operates based on the principle of optical interference, where monochromatic
light (light of a single color and wavelength) is used to create interference fringes on the surfaces
being inspected. Let’s break down the process and details for clarity.

1. Components and Light Path


Light Source: A mercury vapor lamp emits light that passes through a green filter, producing
green monochromatic light.
Pinhole and Collimating Lens: The filtered light then passes through a pinhole, creating an
intense point source of light. This light is expanded into a parallel beam using a collimating
lens.
Gauge and Optical Flat: This parallel beam hits the surface of the gauge being tested through
an optical flat (a precisely flat piece of glass).
Fringe Formation: When light reflects off the gauge and optical flat, interference fringes are
formed. These fringes are patterns caused by the interaction of reflected light waves, and they
vary depending on the flatness of the surfaces.

2. Interference Fringe Patterns


Flat Surfaces: When the gauge surface is perfectly flat, the fringes appear as parallel lines of
equal spacing.
Uneven Surfaces: If the gauge has flatness errors, the fringes become curved or unequal in
spacing. The pattern reveals both the extent and direction of flatness error.

3. Measuring Flatness Error


The gauge is placed on a base plate with high flatness.
For gauges smaller than 25 mm, the fringe pattern on both the gauge and base plate can be
observed directly.
For larger gauges, they are placed on a rotary table, allowing the gauge to be rotated by 180°
to check flatness more accurately.

4. Calculating Parallelism Error


Let’s say the gauge shows n1 fringes when viewed from one position and n2 fringes after being
​ ​

rotated by 180°.
Each fringe corresponds to a distance change of half the wavelength (λ/2) between the gauge
and optical flat.

For the first position:

λ
d1 = n1 ×
2
​ ​ ​

For the second position (after rotation):


λ
d2 = n2 ×
2
​ ​ ​

The difference in distances between these two positions is:

λ
d2 − d1 = (n2 − n1 ) ×
2
​ ​ ​ ​ ​

5. Final Error Calculation


The rotation of the gauge by 180° effectively doubles the error measured, so the actual error in
parallelism is:

λ
d2 − d1 (n2 − n1 ) × 2 (n2 − n1 )λ
= =
​ ​ ​
​ ​ ​ ​

2 2 4
​ ​ ​

This formula gives the parallelism error by accounting for the changes in fringe count after
rotation.

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