Interferometric distance measuring arrangement and corresponding method

An interferometric distance measuring arrangement for measuring surfaces according to the principle of optical coherence tomography, the interferometric distance measuring arrangement, comprising:

• a tunable laser having a coherence length for generating measurement radiation (MS) modulated with a wavelength ramp, wherein the coherence length of the laser defines the measurement range,
• an optical beam path comprising:
• a transmitting optical unit for emitting the measurement radiation (MS) onto the surface,
• a receiving optical unit for receiving the measurement radiation (MS) backscattered from the surface,
• an interferometer consisting of a measurement arm and a reference arm,
• a radiation detector and an evaluation unit for determining the distance from a reference point of the distance measuring arrangement to the surface, wherein:
• by means of at least one beam splitter n≧2 channels for the parallel emission of measurement radiation are defined, which are allocated in each case a different subrange of the wavelength ramp for a given emission instant.

An interferometric distance measuring method for measuring surfaces, according to the principle of optical coherence tomography, the method comprising:

• generating measurement radiation (MS) modulated with a wavelength ramp by means of a laser having an coherence length, wherein the coherence length of the laser defines the measurement range,
• emitting the measurement radiation (MS) onto the surface,
• receiving the measurement radiation (MS) backscattered from the surface together with interferometrically determining the distance from a reference point of the distance measuring arrangement to the surface, wherein:
• the measurement radiation (MS) is emitted in parallel via n≧2 channels, wherein the channels are allocated in each case different subranges of the wavelength ramp for a given emission instant.