Spatial interferometry
AssigneeMarconi Electronic Systems Limited
InventorBalbir Kumar
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An interferometer comprises a non-uniform beam splitter (34) which splits an incoming beam (30) of energy into two beams (36, 38). The two beams (36, 38) are taken from parts of the incoming beam (30) which overlap. The two beams (36, 38) are fed spacially separated energy feeds (44, 46) and then fed to a comparator to produce sum and difference channels (54, 58). The sum and difference channels (54, 58) are guided to a means for detecting a difference in phase (60) between the sum and difference channels (54, 58).
Claims21
An interferometer comprising:
- beam splitter means having an aperture, the beam splitter means splitting an incoming beam of energy incident on the aperture into at least a first beam and a second beam, the first and second beams originating substantially from separate regions of the aperture;
- first and second energy feeds for receiving said first and second beams, the beam splitter means and the energy feeds being separated by free space;
- and
- means for detecting a phase difference between the first and second beams;
- wherein the regions of the aperture from which the first and second beams originate overlap.
An interferometer according to any preceding claim wherein the first and second beams are obtained from opposite sides of the incoming beam.
A method of interferometry on an incoming beam of energy comprising the steps of:
- directing the incoming beam of energy onto an aperture splitting it into at least a first beam and a second beam, the first and second beams being primarily obtained from separate parts of the aperture,
- propagating the first and second beams through free space to respective energy feeds, and
- detecting a phase difference between the first and second beams,
- wherein the parts of the incoming beam from which the first and second beams originate overlap.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.