EP1470621A1

EP1470621A1 - Method and device for measuring distance

Info

Publication number: EP1470621A1
Application number: EP03729412A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Klaas Bergmann; Leonid P. Yatsenko; Bruce W. Shore; Gerhard Bonnet
Original assignee: Spheron VR AG
Current assignee: Spheron VR AG
Priority date: 2002-01-19
Filing date: 2003-01-16
Publication date: 2004-10-27
Also published as: US20050117160A1; AU2003235653A1; AU2003208268A1; JP2005515642A; WO2003060426A2; AU2003208268A8; US7800738B2; US20050078296A1; US7684019B2; EP1470434A2; WO2003061084A1; JP2005515416A; WO2003060426A3

Abstract

The invention relates to a frequency-shifted feedback radiation source, equipped with an element for increasing the beat intensity of the emission frequency component.

Description

Title: Method and device for distance measurement

description

The present invention relates to the preamble and thus deals with frequency-shifted feedback radiation sources and their use in the measurement of distances.

It has long been known to measure distances optically. In addition to echo sounder-like measurements, in which short light pulses are emitted and the time until the reception of backscattered or reflected pulses is measured, interferometric methods are also known.

In interferometric methods, a light beam is split into a reference light beam and an object light beam. The object light beam is irradiated onto an object and received back by it. The reference and object light beams are then superimposed on a light receiver and it is then concluded from the superimposition signal how far the object is. Depending on the arrangement, this procedure allows highly precise measurements; however, depth measurement is difficult for extended objects at various points.

It is also known to carry out distance measurements with frequency shift feedback lasers or frequency shifted feedback lasers (frequency shifted feedback lasers, FSF lasers). Examples of the FSF laser can be found in the essays by FV Kowalski, PD Haie and SJ Shattil "Broadband continuous-wave lasers", Opt. Lett. 13, 622 (1988) and PD Haie and FV Kowalski "Output characteristics of a frequency shifted feedback laser: theory and experiment" IEE J. Quantum Electron. 26, 1845 (1990) and by K. NAKAMURA, T. MIYAHARA, M. YOSHIDA, T. HARA and H. ITO "A new technique of optical ranging by a frequency-shifted feedback laser", IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Volume 10, 1998, pages 1772 ff. An example of the use of such lasers for distance measurement is described in detail in the article "Observation of a highly phase-correlated chirped frequency comb output from a frequency-shifted feedback laser" by K. NAKAMURA, T MIYAHARA and H. ITO, Applied Physics Letters, Volume 72, No. 21, pages 2631 ff. And in the article "Spectral Characteristics of an All Solid-State Frequency-Shifted Feedback Laser" by K. NAKAMURA, F. ABE, K. KASA-HARA, T. HARA, M. SATO and H. ITO in IEEE-JOURNAL OF QUANTUM ELECTRONICS, volume 33, pages 103 ff. It should also be noted that ICM Littler, S. Balle and K. Bergmann " The cw model laser: spectral control, performance data and build-up dynamics "Opt. Commun. 88, 514 (1992) and S. Balle, FV Kowalski and K. Bergmann "Frequency shifted feedback dye laser operating at small frequency shift" Opt. Commun. 102, 166 (1993) and G. Bonnet, S. Balle, Th. Kraft and K. Bergmann "Dynamics and self-modelocking of a Titanium-Sapphire laser with intracvacity frequency shift" Opt. Commun. 123, 790 (1996). The last three documents further characterize FSF lasers according to the prior art. These documents, like DE 100 45 535, are fully incorporated by reference for disclosure purposes. The principle of distance measurement can be briefly illustrated as follows using an FSF laser, which contains an acousto-optical modulator in its resonator in addition to the amplification medium: Light waves entering the gain medium are amplified only for those frequencies at which the gain is greater than 1. At all other frequencies, the light is attenuated as usual. Like an oscillating string, the optical resonator now has preferred frequencies, so-called resonator modes. Each resonator mode has a certain frequency, which means that it corresponds to light of a precisely defined wavelength. Those resonator modes in which the amplification of the amplifying medium is greater than 1 are now preferably emitted.

In principle, this is the behavior of a laser without an acousto-optic modulator. If the acousto-optic modulator is now excited, the material vibration creates a moving grid of different densities; the light circulating in the resonator is diffracted at this density grating, an interaction of the light photons with the phonons characterizing the density oscillation of the acousto-optic modulator, which shifts the frequency of the diffracted light by the excitation frequency of the acousto-optic modulator. This means that the laser modes shift slightly in frequency with time, that is, the frequency of a mode changes with time; if there is more than one mode, this applies to all modes that vibrate in the resonator. It goes without saying that, depending on how far above the gain 1 the gain profile runs, the intensities of the individual modes are different and that the mode intensity changes with frequency. It is also clear that the frequencies change for all modes in the same way over time. In other words, light that is emitted at different times will have different frequencies. If light rays arrive at a location such as a detector and are beamed in via optical paths of different lengths, i.e. were also emitted from the laser at different times, there must be a frequency difference between the two. This frequency difference can be detected as a beat frequency on a photosensitive element. The path length can be inferred from the beat frequency.

The known measuring arrangement is described in more detail in the documents referred to above.

It has now been shown in practice that the signals at the measuring receiver are very noisy. If the distance to be determined is fixed, a single sharp line would be recognizable without noise in the beat frequency spectrum. In reality, however, it is shown that instead a very broad structure instead of a sharp line is obtained with FSF lasers, which massively affects the quality of the measurement obtained.

It is desirable to change the known arrangements and methods so that the usability can be increased.

The object of this invention is to provide something new for commercial use.

The solution to this problem is claimed in an independent form. In a first basic idea, the present invention thus proposes a frequency-shifted feedback Radiation source in front of which a means for increasing the emission frequency component beat intensity is provided.

It was therefore initially recognized that the assumption prevailing in the interpretation of the prior art that the beat components originating from individual modes of the frequency-shifted laser would add up does not apply; rather, they extinguish themselves. Surprisingly, the signal achievable in the prior art with FSF lasers is based on the fact that noise occurs during operation of the known lasers, that is to say fluctuation in intensity and / or phase, which prevents a complete - which is theoretically actually to be expected with more precise analysis Extinction of the mutually coherent frequency components, as would otherwise occur, occurs. Noise-induced noise in measurements with FSF lasers according to the prior art therefore does not appear to be a consequence of the noise of the laser, but rather the actual measurement signals themselves that are caused only by the noise of the laser, that is to say its inherent fluctuations.

Based on this knowledge, it is proposed that means for increasing the intensity of the beat of frequency components of the emitted radiation are provided at the radiation source.

In a preferred variant it can be provided that the means for increasing the emission frequency component beat intensity are designed as means for increasing the non-stochastic emission frequency component beat intensity; you will therefore see an increase in intensity above that things that are caused by spontaneous emission especially in the gain medium.

Typically, an injection light source will be provided, which injects light into the radiation source, that is to say provides a seed radiation field there. As an alternative to this, it would also be possible to disrupt a complete extinction of frequency components beyond what is caused by spontaneous emission in the stationary operating state, for example by modulating the pump light, which is typically less preferred due to the level lifetimes etc., or for example rapid loss mechanisms in the amplifier medium to effect yourself. However, the provision of an injection light source is particularly advantageous because it represents a structurally simple possibility by means of which a large number of advantageous designs can be implemented.

In a particularly preferred variant, the injection light source is an injection laser. Its radiation can be guided into the resonator, in particular and / or onto the gain medium of the frequency-shifted feedback radiation source.

It is preferred if the injection light source emits light at a wavelength which is close to that at which the gain of the gain medium of the frequency-shifted feedback radiation source is 1; it can optionally be radiated near the upper and / or lower threshold wavelength. The frequency of the injected light radiation will typically be within the range in which the gain G is greater than 1 and not outside. With seed injected very close to the threshold Radiation and in particular modulation of the same can, however, temporarily exceed this threshold. However, it would always be preferred to choose the irradiation frequency so that reinforcement takes place after a few resonator cycles.

It is preferred if the injection light source emits radiation in a narrow band, narrow band being related to the amplification bandwidth of the amplification medium of the frequency-shifted feedback radiation source.

In this case, a narrow band cannot be greater than 5%, preferably not more than 1%, of the gain bandwidth. In a particularly preferred variant, a single-mode injection laser with an exactly defined, modulable frequency and / or amplitude is used for the injection.

The injection light radiation is preferably varied with regard to the intensity and / or the phase. This variation can take place, for example, by means of regular modulation, that is to say modulation of intensity and / or phase that obeys prescribed laws or is subject to restrictions, although this does not necessarily have to be even.

It is particularly preferred if the modulation is not constant, but if the intensity and / or the phase of the modulation of the injection light radiation varies with time, which takes place particularly periodically. It is particularly preferred if the frequency of the intensity modulation is changed linearly within certain intervals because a linear variation of the modulation frequency of the injection light radiation provides an evaluation of The beat signals significantly simplified, in particular for distance determination.

If the phase and / or intensity of the radiation emitted from the injection light source is modulated, it is preferred if the frequency of this modulation is close to that which results from the so-called chirp rate and the distance which is currently with the radiation source is determined. The chirp rate is given from the frequency of the acousto-optical or other modulator within the frequency-shifted feedback radiation source, based on the radiation's orbital period in the resonator of this source.

It should be mentioned that the radiation source will typically be a frequency-shifted feedback laser. This can work in particular in infrared, especially in eye-safe areas. The wavelength ranges which can be used particularly inexpensively for telecommunication devices and are well developed in terms of technology can also be used for the purposes of the present invention, which opens up the possibility of using inexpensive elements in the construction of arrangements and devices.

It is understood that the described invention

Radiation source can be used in a distance measuring arrangement. For this purpose, a beam expansion optic can be provided which expands the radiation from the frequency-shifted feedback radiation source to such an extent that a surface to be examined is illuminated or illuminated widely and a means is then to be provided to directly use the back spectrum of the surface from the beat spectrum To gain height profile information. Alternatively or additionally, it is possible to illuminate partial object areas and to obtain information about these from distances.

The invention will now be described in the following only by way of example with reference to the drawing. In this shows:

1 shows a schematic structure of a frequency-shifted feedback radiation source according to the invention;

2 shows the frequency variation of a single laser mode with linear chirp over time;

3 shows the synchronous variation of all components (modes) of a radiation light source with a frequency-shifted one

Feedback according to the present invention;

Fig. 4 shows the frequency spectrum of an FSF laser for a given

Gain curve (top of picture);

5 shows a schematic structure for a distance measurement with an arrangement according to the present invention;

6 shows a gray-scale representation of a beat frequency spectrum, as can be obtained from the prior art, with position-independent artifact structures and a weak measurement signal structure which can be recognized as strips running obliquely through the image;

7 shows an example of a beat frequency signal as a function of a seed radiation frequency modulation. According to FIG. 1, a frequency-shifted feedback radiation source 1, generally designated 1, comprises a means 2 for increasing the emission frequency component beat intensity.

The frequency-shifted feedback radiation source 1 is a ring laser with frequency-shifted feedback in the present example. The ring resonator of the ring laser 1 is formed by two highly reflecting mirrors la, lb and an acousto-optical modulator lc, to which a piezo element lcl is assigned as an actuator and input and output prisms lc2, lc3 and which is arranged in the resonator ring in such a way that the zeroth diffraction order , shown as beam 3, while the first diffraction order guides the light circulating in the resonator. The acousto-optical modulator lc is selected such that diffraction coefficients of more than 90% result for the first diffraction order, which is frequency-shifted in a known manner by the acousto-optical modulation. The geometry is also selected such that the primes lc2, lc3 assigned to the acousto-optical modulator lc are compensated for in terms of their dispersion and a compact structure is nevertheless possible.

A fiber medium ld is arranged between the two highly reflecting mirrors la and lb, to which fiber coupling and decoupling optics 1dl and ld2 are assigned. Energy is radiated into the fiber from a point laser designed here as a diode laser (not shown), so that it can be used as a gain medium. The coupling takes place on a fiber switch lcl. The fiber shown is a conventional ytterbium fiber with a large one usable gain bandwidth of here, for example, at least 70 nm in the spectral range around 1.2 μm; Such elements are readily available from the field of optical telecommunications, just as other arrangements that can also be used, for example fiber lasers based on YAG at 1.06 μm with a few nm bandwidth or approximately erbium at 1.5 μm, could be used.

The arrangement of the FSF laser as described so far is essentially conventional. Means for increasing the emission frequency component beat intensity are now provided. For this purpose, a fiber switch 2a is provided, via which injection light, indicated at 2b, can be coupled into the fiber via a coupling optic 2c. The injection light 2b comes from an injection laser (not shown), which in turn can be modulated in a time-varying manner with regard to its amplitude and the phase of the optical carrier. The injection or seed laser emits radiation, the wavelength of which is close to the point G = l of the gain profile of the FSF ring laser 1 or the fiber ld, see FIG. 4, where the gain profile is shown as a solid line in the upper part of the image is shown, together with the gain threshold 1, which is shown horizontally and the optical carrier frequency of the seed laser is entered as a vertical, dash-dotted line.

It should also be mentioned that instead of and / or in addition to a coupling via a fiber switch 2a, it would also be possible to couple an injection light beam through one of the highly reflecting mirrors, as indicated by beam 2b2 in the case of the mirror la, and / or a coupling could take place into the into the acousto-optic modulator, as indicated by arrow 2b3. For the sake of completeness, it should also be indicated here that the pump light, which differs from the injection light here, can not only be coupled into the reinforcing fiber ld from the pump light beam lel via a fiber switch, but also, for example, via the highly reflecting mirrors, a pump light coupling is, as indicated by ray le2 near the mirror lb.

The arrangement is operated as follows:

Pump light is irradiated onto the fiber 1d, so that an inversion which enables laser operation results. Then the piezo driver lcl of the acousto-optical modulator is set in vibration, so that the ring of the frequency-shifted feedback laser is closed. Light that is now emitted from the fiber can now pass through the mirror la, through the prism lc2 and the acousto-optical modulator lcl and the prima lc3. The majority of this light is directed onto the mirror 1bl in accordance with the high diffraction efficiency of the acousto-optical modulator and is radiated into the fiber 1d.

Passing through the acousto-optical modulator lc also changes the frequency of the light. The light that has run at a predetermined frequency at the mirror la in the direction of the acousto-optical modulator will therefore arrive at the other highly reflecting mirror 1b with a shifted frequency or wavelength. This, light with a shifted frequency is amplified in the fiber ld, in turn runs over the mirror la with a further frequency shift by the acousto-optical modulator lc on the Mirror lb, etc. This causes the frequency to shift with each pass. The speed at which the frequency changes depends on the time it takes for the light to circulate and how strong the frequency shift is in the acousto-optic modulator. The shift is carried out in the same way for all components or modes that can be amplified in the resonator, so that the frequency comb, which the modes of the FSF laser represent, are gradually shifted in a synchronous manner. There is a so-called "chirp". This is shown in FIG. 3, while FIG. 2 shows the variation of the frequency for a given linear chirp.

This light is now used for distance measurement. This is only discussed by way of example for an interferometer arrangement, as shown in FIG. 5, in which the light source 1 according to the invention, a beam splitter element 4 in the outcoupling beam 3 of the light source 1, a reference path 6 to a reference surface 6 ^Λ and a measurement path 7 to a measurement object 7 ^Λ are shown, the beams being guided from the reference object 6 and from the measurement object 7 ^Λ to a detector 5.

The situation that arises in such an arrangement before the seed source is put into operation on the detector can be seen in Figure 6. There, the beat frequency spectrum for a laser arrangement is shown as a function of the path difference ΔL of the arms 6 and 7 of the measuring arrangement in a gray-scale representation. The gray-scale display initially shows position-independent lines, ie lines that do not vary with the path difference ΔL and thus run horizontally in the picture, which are caused by a standing wave component in the acousto-optic modulator and differ after the resonator round trip time to repeat. Furthermore, the actual measurement signal can be seen with a lot of noise, which runs diagonally through the image as a dark stripe.

Now the injection light source is put into operation, namely at a carrier frequency close to the upper region of the amplification curve, that is to say just within the region in which the amplification is greater than 1. The optical carrier frequency, which is drawn in with a vertical dashed line, is modulated, namely in the present example amplitude-modulated, the modulation itself also not being constant, but varying with a frequency which is approximately determined from the so-called chirp rate, i.e. the frequency shift per resonator revolution divided by the resonator round trip time and further determined by the light travel time along the path difference ΔL between the measuring beam path and the reference beam path in the construction of FIG. 5. The modulation frequency of the injection light is therefore not kept constant, but is varied by this so-called signature value, that is, by the value that results from the chirp rate and ΔL from the formula

Δv = α x ΔL xc ^"

where c is the speed of light. The modulation frequency is changed around this signature frequency, preferably in a linear sawtooth shape. An intensity at the detector then results, as shown in FIG. 7. It can be seen that a very clearly pronounced, sharp intensity peak of the beat signal can be obtained, that is to say that the signal has very little noise and, in particular, has less noise and thus a more precise measurement than previously possible in the prior art. It is essential that the injection radiation modulation and the beat frequency intensity are closely connected to one another and that a beat frequency intensity maximum is reached when the injection modulation frequency corresponds to the frequency expected for a given path difference, taking into account the chirp rate.

This is currently justified as follows: by injecting the radiation from the injection laser at the edge of the amplification region, modes are shifted in steps ΔV _AOM over the entire amplification range in the resonator, so that the laser cannot move into a stationary, practically noise-free equilibrium, which he would otherwise tend to. It therefore appears to be the case that the conventional picture about the occurrence of the beat spectrum is incorrect and the intensity of a beat would actually vanish in a noise-free case.

It can now be determined that the structure width of the signal structure obtained is determined by the amplification bandwidth, that is to say a high bandwidth of the radiation light source with frequency-shifted feedback, that is to say of the FSF laser, which leads to good spatial resolution. Since the range measurement accuracy is essentially determined by the chirp size, it is desirable to choose a large frequency shift due to the acousto-optical modulator and a small laser resonator length of the FSF laser resonator.

It can be established that in the case of a distance measurement and, if appropriate, successive distance measurements in one certain time interval, even with speed and / or acceleration measurements, very high accuracies can be achieved, which essentially depend only on the driver frequency constancy of the acousto-optic modulator, and the laser resonator length stability of the measuring time. In addition, only quantities such as the accuracy of the beat frequency determination have to be taken into account. It is clear that systematic resolutions and accuracies around 10 ^{~ 6} - 10 ^{~ 8 can be} achieved. Due to the significantly improved signal-to-noise ratio, it is also possible to carry out measurements with very low powers, since only a high-frequency component in the detected signal has to be detected as a beat, and moreover at known or approximately known frequencies.

Claims

claims

1. Frequency-shifted feedback radiation source, characterized in that a means for increasing the emission frequency component beat intensity is provided.

2. Frequency-shifted feedback radiation source according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the means for increasing the emission frequency component beat intensity is designed as a means for increasing the non-stochastic emission frequency component beat intensity.

3. Frequency-shifted feedback radiation source according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the means for increasing the emission frequency component beat intensity comprises an injection light source.

4. Frequency-shifted feedback radiation source according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the injection light source comprises an injection laser.

5. Frequency-shifted feedback radiation source according to one of claims 3 or 4, characterized in that the injection light source is designed for injecting radiation into the resonator of the frequency-shifted feedback radiation source, in particular for radiation onto the amplification medium thereof.

6. Frequency-shifted feedback radiation source according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the injection light source is designed to emit radiation of a radiation frequency close to the upper or lower amplification threshold (G = 1).

7. Frequency-shifted feedback radiation source according to one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that the injection light source for irradiation of injection light is narrow-band based on the amplification bandwidth of the frequency-shifted feedback radiation source, in particular a width of less than 5%, preferably less than 1% of the bandwidth of the Has amplification of the frequency-shifted feedback radiation source.

8. Frequency-shifted feedback radiation source according to one of claims 3 to 7, characterized in that the injection light source is designed to irradiate the intensity and / or phase of the optical carrier.

9. Frequency-shifted feedback radiation source according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the injection light source is designed for the regular modulation of intensity and / or phase of the injection light.

10. Frequency-shifted feedback radiation source according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the injection light source is designed to carry out a time-variable, in particular periodic, modulation of intensity and / or phase.

11. Frequency-shifted feedback radiation source according to one of claims 9 or 10, characterized in that the injection light source is designed such that a linear modulation frequency variation takes place at least temporarily. .

12. Frequency-shifted feedback radiation source according to one of claims 8 or 11, characterized in that the injection light source is designed to a modulation in the order of magnitude and / or close to the given by a distance to be determined with the radiation source and the given from the frequency-shifted feedback radiation source Chirprate is obtained.

13. Frequency-shifted feedback radiation source according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the frequency-shifted feedback radiation light source is a laser.

14. Frequency-shifted feedback laser according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that an internal resonator optical fiber is provided.

15. Distance measuring arrangement with a radiation light source according to one of the preceding claims.

16. Distance measuring arrangement according to the preceding claim, characterized in that radiation optics are provided such that a surface to be examined is broadly illuminated with light from the radiation source is provided and a means is provided in order to obtain a beat spectrum containing height profile information.

17. Distance measuring arrangement according to one of the preceding distance measuring arrangement claims, characterized in that an optical system is provided in order to direct radiation from the radiation light source onto a defined partial object region.

18. A method for operating a frequency-shifted feedback radiation light source, characterized in that the beat intensity of the frequency components of the emitted radiation is increased beyond that which can be achieved in the stationary operating state by spontaneous emission.