3D phase stepping optical profilometry using a fiber optic Lloyd's mirror

This study defines measurements of three-dimensional rigid-body shapes by using a fiber optic Lloyd’s mirror. A fiber optic Lloyd's mirror assembly is basically a technique to create an optical interference pattern using the real light point sources and their images. The generated fringe pattern thanks to this technique is deformed when it is projected on an object's surface. The introduced surface profilometry algorithm depends on a multi-step phase shifting process. The deformed fringe patterns containing information of the object's surface profile are captured by a digital CCD camera. While each frames are captured, required π∕2 phase shifts for interference fringe pattern are obtained by mechanically sliding the Lloyd assembly via an ordinary micrometer stage. Some preprocess algorithms are applied to the frames and are processed with an algorithm to accomplish 3D topographies. Finally, the continuous data determines the depth information and the surface topography of the object. The experimental setup is simple and low cost to construct, and is insensitive to the ambient temperature fluctuations and environmental vibrations that cause unwanted effects on the projected fringe pattern. Such a fiber optic Lloyd’s system which provides an accurate non-contact measurement without contaminating and harming the object surface has a wide range of applications from laser interference based lithography in nano-scale to macro-scale interferometers.