Optics and Lasers in Engineering 123 (2019) 20–27

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Optics and Lasers in Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/optlaseng

Absolute distance measurement based on spectral interferometer using the

effect of the FSR of a Fabry–Perot etalon
Meiyun Chen a,e, Shengli Xie a,b, Guoxu Zhou a,c, Dong Wei f, Heng Wu a,c,∗, Satoru Takahashi d,
Hirokazu Matsumoto e, Kiyoshi Takamasu e
a
School of Automation, Guangdong University of Technology, No. 100 Waihuan Xi Road, Panyu District, Guangzhou, 510006, China
b
Guangdong Key Laboratory of IoT Information Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China
c
State Key Laboratory of Precision Electronic Manufacturing Technology and Equipment, Guangzhou, 510006, China
d
Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8904, Japan
e
Faculty of Engineering, Department of Precision Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan
f
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, Nagaoka City, Niigata 940-2188, Japan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Keywords: A method for absolute distance measurement is developed here that uses a Fizeau-type spectroscopic interferom-
Rotating diffraction grating eter with a Fabry−Perot etalon and a rotating diffraction grating. The integral multiple of the free spectral range
Fabry−Perot etalon (FSR) can be measured using a fiber-type etalon. When the range of length is greater than half of the FSR, the
Absolute distance measurement
absolute distance can be determined with arbitrary ranges. Moreover, the limited position can be measured over
Spectroscopic interferometer
a long distance. Instead of calibrating the wavelength, we use the Fabry−Perot etalon as a standard to determine
the absolute position and calibrate the system. Two diffraction gratings increase the spectroscopic resolution to
considerably extend the effective range of measurement. Experiments to test the proposed method indicate that
it can be used to measure absolute distance with arbitrary ranges of length of up to 120 mm, with repeatability
between 0.23 𝜇m (0.0272%) and 0.77 𝜇m (0.0619%), and can measure distances up to 1200 mm.

1. Introduction the Michelson interferometer is more susceptible to disturbances caused

A variety of interferometer technologies have been proposed for ab-
solute distance measurement [1–7]. These measurements are impor-
tant to the industry for the evaluation of large-scale equipment [8,9].
Spectral interferometry uses a spectrometer to externally disperse the
output of a fixed-delay interferometer, thus providing a simple tech-
nique for measuring the spectral phase difference between light waves
[10]. Spectral interferometry is a sensitive procedure that has been used
to completely characterize unknown pulses [11–13]. Several schemes
for distance measurement using spectral interferometry have been pro-
posed and implemented. These measurements have been carried out
using either femtosecond-pulse laser or heterodyne Fourier transform
spectroscopy [14–16] for high-resolution imaging. Another notable ex-
ample of distance measurement without directional ambiguity involves
the use of synthetic-wavelength interferometry or multi-wavelength
interferometry [17,18]. This technique combines the Michelson in-
terferometer with a grating spectrometer to achieve accurate, non-
incremental measurement of long distances [19,20]. However, complex
phase-locking circuits are required, thus rendering the system expensive
and difficult to apply to industrial measurements [15,21]. In addition,
by the motion of the scanning stage and atmospheric turbulence [22].
In this paper, we propose a method for absolute distance measure-
ment through a Fizeau-type spectroscopic interferometer that uses a ro-
tating diffraction grating and a Fabry−Perot etalon (30 GHz with an FSR
of 5 mm). The proposed optical system is not considerably influenced by
disturbance in spite of its high sensitivity because the spectroscopic sys-
tem is outside the Fizeau-type interferometer. Unlike conventional spec-
tral interferometry, our proposed method increases the spectroscopic
resolution using the rotating diffraction grating. In addition, the effec-
tive range of measurement can be extended considerably by using two
diffraction gratings [23]. In the general optical spectrometer, the fre-
quency after splitting is proportional to the distance. In case of long
distances, the frequency is too high to be measured. A fiber-type etalon
plays an important role as frequency mode selector for generating abso-
lute fringe positions at the required distance (FSR). The integral multiple
of the FSR is measured using a fiber-type etalon [24]. When the range
of length is greater than half of the FSR, the absolute distance can be
measured with arbitrary ranges. Moreover, the limited position can be
measured over a long distance, and both the negative directions can be
measured based by using the fiber-type etalon. This etalon has been de-

∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: chenmeiyun2017@163.com (M. Chen), heng.wu@foxmail.com (H. Wu).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optlaseng.2019.06.027
Received 8 May 2019; Received in revised form 27 June 2019; Accepted 27 June 2019
Available online 6 July 2019
0143-8166/© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M. Chen, S. Xie and G. Zhou et al.
veloped precisely for absolute distance measurement in spectral interfer-
ometers where the measurable range is impossible to measure using the
general optical spectrometer. Instead of calibrating the wavelength, we
use the FSR of the Fabry−Perot etalon (standard/30 GHz corresponding
to 4.9967 mm) to determine the absolute position and calibrate the sys-
tem. The unknown range is calculated from the peak of the Fabry−Perot
etalon (standard) using the fast Fourier transform. The point of intersec-
tion (using a fiber etalon) along the positive and negative directions can
be used to determine the calibration distance and compensate for the
variation of the motor. Despite the simplicity of the proposed method,
the variation in the rotation motor decreases considerably after com-
pensation.
The proposed method is thus optimized to be suitable for industrial
use. It aims at cost minimization, and can attain high-speed measure-
ments with a large range of length for absolute distance.
2. Principle
2.1. Characterizing the Fabry–Perot etalon
The FPE is an optical cavity in which a beam of light undergoes
multiple reflections between reflecting surfaces, and its resulting optical
transmission is periodic in the optical frequency spectrum. The instru-
ment consists of two glasses of quartz plates with plane surfaces. The
inner surfaces are coated with partially transparent films of high reflec-
tivity R, and are parallel so that they enclose a parallel plate of air. The
plates themselves are made slightly prismatic in order to avoid disturb-
ing effects due to reflections at the outer, uncoated surfaces. We first
consider the simplest case of a solid etalon, as shown in Fig. 1. Light
is transmitted to the solid etalon, which is composed of material with
refractive index n, at incident angle 𝜃.
The phase difference in one round trip through etalon 𝛿 is given by
4𝜋𝑛𝑙 cos 𝜃
𝛿= , (1)
𝜆 used the rotating diffraction device to minimize the cost and improve
where n is the refractive index of the medium, l is the thickness of the
etalon, and 𝜆 is the wavelength of light. The fracture of transmission
power T for the etalon is given by
1 system.
𝑇 = ( ) , (2)
𝛿
1 + 𝐹 sin2 2 the spectral interferometer by inserting a fixed diffraction grating in
where 𝛿 is the phase difference in one round trip through the etalon.
Eq. (2) is known as the Airy function, and
4𝑅
𝐹 = , (3)
(1 − 𝑅)2
where R = r2 is the reflectivity of the surface. The separation of the ad-
jacent frequency line is known as the free spectral range (FSR), and can
21
Optics and Lasers in Engineering 123 (2019) 20–27
Fig. 1. The Fabry–Perot etalon cavity.
be expressed as
𝑐
𝐹 𝑆𝑅 = Δ𝑣 = 𝑣𝑚+1 − 𝑣𝑚 = , (4)
2𝑛𝑙 cos 𝜃
The underlying Lorentzian lines can be resolved as long as the Tay-
lor criterion is obeyed (see Fig. 1). Consequently, one can define the
Lorentzian finesse of a Fabry–Perot resonator:
𝑐 2𝜋
𝐹𝑐 = = ( ) , (5)
2𝑛𝑙 cos 𝜃 − ln 𝑅1 𝑅2
As shown in Fig. 2(a), in the general optical spectrometer, the fre-
quency after splitting is proportional to the distance. In case of long
distance, the frequency is too high to be measured.
To circumvent the problem of the limited measurement of high fre-
quency in case of long distance, we propose the Fizeau-type spectro-
scopic interferometer that uses a rotating diffraction grating and the
Fabry−Perot etalon. A fiber-type etalon plays an important role as fre-
quency mode selector for generating absolute fringe positions at the re-
quired distance (FSR). As shown in Fig. 2(b), the integral multiple of the
FSR can be measured by using the fiber-type etalon. Both the positive
and negative directions can be measured using it. The fiber etalon is also
useful because it is not significantly disturbed by variations in air tem-
perature or mechanical vibrations. It is thus used for absolute distance
measurement. When the range of length is greater than half of the FSR,
the absolute distance can be measured with arbitrary ranges, as shown
in Fig. 2(a). Furthermore, the limited position can be measured over a
long distance.
2.2. Spectral interferometers using rotating diffraction grating
To circumvent the limitation of the CCD resolution and disturbance
caused by motion of the scanning stage, we proposed a spectral inter-
ferometer that includes a rotating diffraction device and a point photo
detector. Thus, instead of increasing the number of pixels in the CCD, we
the measuring speed. In addition, this optical system is not relatively
influenced by the disturbance of mechanical vibration and air turbu-
lence, because the spectroscopic system is outside of the interferometer
We examined the prospect of extending the measurement range of
front of the rotating diffraction grating, as shown in Fig. 3. The re-
configured Fizeau-type spectroscopic interferometer includes the two
diffraction gratings, a measuring mirror, and a circulator. The interfer-
ing beams pass through lens collimator 2 through diffraction grating
1 (fixed) to diffraction grating 2 (rotating). The diffraction device is
aligned in such a way that the first diffraction order beam retraces the
incoming beam back through the fixed diffraction grating. The rotat-
M. Chen, S. Xie and G. Zhou et al.
Fig. 2. The relationship between frequency and distance:(a) General optical spectrometer. (b) High-frequency SLD produced by filtering with Fabry–Perot etalon.
Fig. 3. Optical layout of the proposed spectral interferometer with two diffraction gratings, and variation in the amplitude of the spectrum.
ing diffraction grating deflects the dispersed beam towards the photo
detector for the spectral component measurements.
Fig. 3(b) shows the variation in the amplitude of the spectrum pass-
ing though the diffraction gratings. The effective measuring range of the
spectral interferometer is extended considerably by using two diffraction
gratings.
The number of illuminated grooves (over 1 mm) N was 600 and the
order of the diffraction m was 1. The diameter of the beam W was 5 mm
and its wavelength 𝜆 was 1550 nm. The maximum measurable distance
was xd , xd < 2.31 mm [23]. Matsumoto conducted a series of experi-
ments indicating that a range of length of approximately 1.5 mm is fea-
sible when using one diffraction grating [25]. The measurable resolvable
of a grating was 0.80 nm and that of two gratings was 0.40 nm. The max-
imum measurable distance with two diffraction gratings was 4.62 mm
in the range of the FSR [23].
Without the Fabry–Perot etalon, the maximum measurable distance
with two diffraction gratings is 4.62 mm. Using the Fabry–Perot etalon,
the effective measuring range can be extended considerably. The abso-
lute distance with arbitrary ranges could be measured until the mea-
sured length range is small than half of the FSR.
3. Experiments and results
3.1. Configuration of the experiments
The photographs in Fig. 4 show our experimental setup. A superlumi-
nescent diode (SLD) (S5FC1005S, Thorlab) was used as low-coherence
light source. The center wavelength of the pulses was 1550 nm. The low-
coherence light source (SLD) generated a laser pulse that passed through
the fiber etalon with an FSR of 30 GHz (corresponding to 4.9967 mm).
An optical amplifier (Amonics, AEDFA-PA-30-B-FA) amplified the laser
beam, which then passed through an optical fiber circulator to collima-
22
Optics and Lasers in Engineering 123 (2019) 20–27
tor 1 toward a half mirror and a mirror, whereas another beam passed
through collimator 2 toward the diffraction device. The diffraction de-
vice consisted of a fixed diffraction grating (Edmund Optics #43748,
nominal blaze wavelength 1600 nm, number of illuminated grooves over
1 mm were 600, blaze angle 28° 41′), a rotating diffraction grating (Ed-
mund Optics #43748), and a point photodetector (Thorlabs PDA10CS,
DC-17 MHz, 900−1700 nm, 0.8 mm2 ). The rotating diffraction grating,
which was rotated by a DC motor (Sawamura Denki SS23F), deflected
the dispersed beam toward the detector for the measurements of the
spectral component. Throughout the experiment, temperature fluctua-
tion in the laboratory was controlled to less than 0.1 °C. The pressure
and humidity were monitored with an accuracy of 1 hPa and 0.1%, re-
spectively.
3.2. Measurement results
3.2.1. Using Fabry−Perot etalon to calculate the original path length
difference (x0 )
The experiment consisted of three steps. First, the measurement mir-
ror was mounted on a small translation stage and positioned to give a rel-
atively small (almost 4 mm) original path length difference (x0 ) between
the reference and measurement arms. We used the Fabry−Perot etalon
to obtain the reference Fourier-transformed amplitude with a peak fre-
quency (fr ) of 379.2390 Hz on the original path, as shown in Fig. 5(b).
Second, by moving the mirror further away from the beam splitter in
increments of 0.05 mm (measured by the laser hologage with a displace-
ment accuracy of 0.1 𝜇m and repeatability of 0.02 𝜇m), the separation
between the pulses increased and more fringes appeared in the measured
spectrum. Using fast Fourier transform, we calculated the amplitude of
the interference spectrum accurately from x0 to x0 + 2.0 mm. The point
of intersection (using the fiber etalon) along the positive and negative
direction was used to determine the calibration distance. As shown in
M. Chen, S. Xie and G. Zhou et al.
Fig. 4. Photograph of the setup of the spectral interferometer experiment.
Fig. 5. Association with Fabry−Perot etalon positioned to original path length difference (x0 ): (a) measured spectrograms; (b) Fourier-transformed amplitude.
Fig. 6. Displacement for the measurement range of 2.0 mm in steps of 0.05 mm:
the original path length difference (x0 ) was calculated from the peak frequency
of the Fabry−Perot etalon.
Fig. 6, for displacement over a measurement range of 2.0 mm in steps
of 0.05 mm, the calibration distance xoffset was 0.9948 mm. The FSR of
the Fabry−Perot etalon was xr (30 GHz corresponding to 4.9967 mm).
The original path length difference x0 was calculated from the peak fre-
quency shown in Fig. 5(b) and the FSR of the Fabry−Perot etalon as
x0 = xr − xoffset , which yielded a value of 4.0019 mm.
23
Optics and Lasers in Engineering 123 (2019) 20–27
In our experiment, we used the FSR of the Fabry−Perot etalon (stan-
dard/30 GHz corresponding to 4.9967 mm) to determine the absolute
position and calibrate the system. The unknown range was calculated
from the peak position of the Fabry−Perot etalon (standard) using
the fast Fourier transform. During the measurement, a high-precision
displacement-measuring machine (laser hologage, 0.1 𝜇m displacement
accuracy, 0.02 𝜇m repeatability, 0.01 𝜇m resolution) was used to eval-
uate the system.
3.2.2. Experiment on absolute distance with arbitrary ranges
The measurement mirror was set such that the path length differ-
ence between the reference and the measurement arms was 0.3019 mm.
Then, by moving the mirror further from the beam splitter in incre-
ments of 0.2 mm, the separation between the pulses was increased (from
3.7019 mm to 6.5019), and more fringes appeared in the measured spec-
trum as shown in Fig. 7. This process was independently repeated three
times. Using the fast Fourier transform, we calculated the amplitude of
the interference spectrum and obtained the results shown in Fig. 8. The
peak frequency increased with difference in path length. Over a long
distance, as shown in Fig. 9 (from 43.7019 mm to 46.5019 mm), the
large number of fringes caused the modulation depth to decrease, and
the signal-to-noise ratio decreased [26]. However, the integral multi-
ple of the FSR could be measured by using the fiber-type etalon, and
both positive and negative directions were measured over the long dis-
tance. Fig. 10 shows the Fourier-transformed amplitude of the interfer-
ence spectrum for different ranges of length corresponding to the values
in Fig. 9.
M. Chen, S. Xie and G. Zhou et al. Optics and Lasers in Engineering 123 (2019) 20–27

Fig. 7. Measured spectrograms with different length ranges (x): (a) 3.7019, (b) 3.9019, (c) 4.1019, (d) 4.3019, (e) 4.5019, (f) 4.7019, (g) 4.9019, (h) 5.1019, (i)
5.3019, (j) 5.5019, (k) 5.7019, (l) 6.9019, (m) 6.1019, (n) 6.3019, and (o) 6.5019 mm.

Fig. 8. Fourier-transformed amplitude of the interference spectrum for different length ranges (x) corresponding to the values in Fig. 7.

Fig. 9. Measured spectrograms with different length ranges (x): (a) 43.7019, (b) 43.9019, (c) 44.1019, (d) 44.3019, (e) 44.5019, (f) 44.7019, (g) 44.9019, (h)
45.1019, (i) 45.3019, (j) 45.5019, (k) 45.7019, (l) 46.9019, (m) 46.1019, (n) 46.3019, and (o) 46.5019 mm.

24
M. Chen, S. Xie and G. Zhou et al.
Fig. 10. Fourier-transformed amplitude of the interference spectrum for different length ranges (x) corresponding to the values in Fig. 9.
Fig. 11. Peak angle frequency for distances from 0.3019 mm to 19. 9019 mm
using the 30 GHz Fabry−Perot etalon (FSR corresponding to 4.9967 mm).
The experimental results confirm the suitability of the fiber-type
etalon for the measurement of the integral multiple of the FSR.
3.2.3. Experiment on maximum measurable length
The peak angle frequencies fa are plotted against distance x in
Fig. 11. However, as shown in Fig. 12, range of length decreased gradu-
ally with distance because the number of fringes in the measured spec-
trum exceeded the resolution of the spectrometer. The absolute dis-
tance with arbitrary ranges of length can be measured when the range
of length is greater than the FSR of the Fabry−Perot etalon (30 GHz
corresponding to 4.9967 mm). Our experiments indicate that absolute
distance could be measured with arbitrary ranges of length of up to
120 mm, as shown in Fig. 12. When the range of length was smaller than
half the FSR (2.4983 mm), the absolute distance could not be measured
with arbitrary ranges, and the measurable distance with arbitrary ranges
was limited to 120 mm as shown in Fig. 13. Moreover, the maximum
measurable distance with a limited position was extended to 1200 mm
(Fig. 14).
In future work, we plan to analyze factors influencing accuracy in
case of high-precision measurements.
3.3. Verification of repeatability and absolute precision
To verify the standard deviation of the measurement taken by rotat-
ing the diffraction grating in a practical environment, we measured the
25
Optics and Lasers in Engineering 123 (2019) 20–27
Fig. 12. The absolute distance with arbitrary ranges of length from 0.3019 mm
to 119. 9019 mm using the 30 GHz Fabry−Perot etalon (FSR corresponding to
4.9967 mm).
variation in the rotary stage 10 times in increments of 0.5 mm. Instead of
calibrating the speed of rotating, we used the peak angle frequency for
compensation [23]. Here, 𝜎𝑓𝑎 and 𝑓𝑎 represent the standard deviation
and average, respectively, of the peak angle frequency fa . The standard
deviation of the distance 𝜎 x can be expressed as:
𝑥
𝜎𝑥 = 𝜎𝑓 𝑎 (6)
𝑓𝑎
where Δ𝛼 is the differential of the FSR. The distance can be expressed
as:
𝑥 = 𝑁 × 𝐹 𝑆𝑅 + Δ𝛼 (7)
where N is the integral of the FSR. Fig. 7 shows the results of the vari-
ation 𝜎 x over the long range. From the calibrated results, as shown in
Table 1, note that peak angle frequency fa was used for compensation
so that the proposed setup was insensitive to environmental vibrations.
Our experiments indicate that absolute distance can be measured with
arbitrary ranges of length of up to 120 mm with repeatability between
0.23 𝜇m (0.0272%) and 0.77 𝜇m (0.0619%).
4. Conclusion
We proposed and tested a scheme for absolute distance measurement
using a Fizeau-type spectroscopic interferometer with a Fabry−Perot
M. Chen, S. Xie and G. Zhou et al. Optics and Lasers in Engineering 123 (2019) 20–27

Ratio of standard deviation of distance a (%)

0.0544
0.0574
0.0443
0.0619
0.0354
0.0462
0.0539
0.0272
0.0338
0.0419
0.0386
0.0421
0.0392
Standard deviation of distance 𝜎 x (𝜇m)

Fig. 13. The maximum measurable distance in association with a Fabry–Perot

etalon. The measurable distance with arbitrary ranges was limited to 120 mm
(when the range of length was smaller than half the FSR, as shown by the red
line). However, the maximum measurable distance with limited position was
extended to 1200 mm. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this
figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
0.67
0.62
0.59
0.77
0.46
0.53
0.54
0.23
0.24
0.51
0.41
0.48
0.45
Standard deviation of peak angle frequency 𝜎𝑓𝑎 (Hz)

Fig. 14. Standard deviation of distance over a long range.

0.0351
0.0325
0.0313
0.0409

0.0275
0.0282

0.0237
0.0240

0.0120
0.0122
0.0265
0.0212
0.0250

etalon and low-coherence light source in this paper. The integral multi-
Average of peak angle frequency 𝑓𝑎 (Hz)

ple of the FSR was measured by using a fiber-type etalon, both the pos-
itive and negative directions were measured. When the range of length
was greater than half the FSR, the absolute distance could be measured
with arbitrary ranges. The fiber-type etalon is thus used for absolute dis-
tance measurement in the spectral interferometers, where the measur-
able range is impossible to measure in the general optical spectrometer.
This scheme is simple, and aims to minimize cost, can maintain high-
speed measurement over a wide measuring range, uses the FSR of the
Fabry−Perot etalon to determine the absolute position and calibrate the
67.7839
59.5799
64.6041
56.7071
70.7183
66.0696

52.3018
44.1280
36.0775
63.2623

59.4819
55.0048

60.3375

system, and is suitable for industrial use.

In our experiments, instead of calibrating the wavelength, we used
the Fabry−Perot etalon to calibrate the system. The point of intersection
Differential of the FSR Δ𝛼 (mm)

(using the fiber etalon) of the positive and negative directions was used
Results of comparison over the long range.

to determine the calibration distance and compensate for the variation

in the motor. The unknown range was calculated from the peak posi-
tion of the Fabry−Perot etalon using the fast Fourier transform. During
the measurement, a high-precision displacement-measuring machine
(laser hologage) was used to assess the system. Our experiments indi-
cate that the absolute distance can be measured with arbitrary ranges of
1.3382
1.2465
1.2952
1.1478
1.2305
1.0746

0.9995
0.8476
0.6954

1.1567
1.2076
1.0519
1.1422

length of up to 120 mm with repeatability between 0.23 𝜇m (0.0272%)

and 0.77 𝜇m (0.0619%). The limited position can be measured up to
1200 mm. The experimental results confirm the suitability of the fiber-
Distance x (mm)

type etalon for the measurement of the integral multiple of the FSR.
When the number of fringes exceeded the resolution of the spectrometer,
Table 1

109.9274
119.9208
19.9868

39.9736

69.9538
79.9472
29.9802

59.9604

89.9406

the modulation depth decreased, as did the signal-to-noise ratio. These

9.9934

49.967

99.934
1.2305

changes resulted in errors in peak frequency and limited the range of

26
M. Chen, S. Xie and G. Zhou et al.
maximum length that could be measured. The peak frequency and speed
of the motor can be used to compensate for variation in the motor. De-
spite the simplicity of the proposed calibration method, the variation in
the motor decreased considerably with compensation.
This method can also be applied to high-speed measurements by in-
creasing the speed of rotation of the DC motor. In future work, our pro-
posed method will be used to measure thickness over a large range of
length.
Funding
This work is supported by the Natural National Science Founda-
tion of China (61803093, 61727810, 61805048, 51305084, 61673124,
61801127, 61803100). Science and Technology Project of Guangdong
Province (2017B090911012), University Innovation and Entrepreneur-
ship Education Major Project of Guangzhou City (201709P05).
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