OPTICAL-AXIS DEFLECTION TYPE LASER INTERFEROMETER, CALIBRATION METHOD THEREOF, CORRECTING METHOD THEREOF, AND MEASURING METHOD THEREOF

Abstract

An optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer includes a reference ball serving as a measurement reference, a retroreflecting means disposed at an object to be measured, a laser interferometer length measuring apparatus that outputs a measurement value according to an increase or a decrease in distance between the apparatus and the retroreflecting means, and a rotational mechanism that rotates a beam projected from the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus around the reference ball. The thus structured laser interferometer measures a distance between the laser interferometer and the retroreflecting means that makes an optical axis of an outgoing beam projected from the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus mounted on the rotational mechanism and an optical axis of a return beam returned to the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus parallel to each other, based on center coordinates of the reference ball. The laser interferometer is characterized by additionally including a displacement gauge that measures an error caused by a relative motion between the reference ball and the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus, and a rectilinear movement mechanism that displaces these in a direction of an optical axis of a measurement beam with respect to the reference ball while maintaining a relative positional relationship between the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus and the displacement gauge. With this structure, it becomes possible to calibrate the displacement gauge used to correct an error in the direction of the optical axis resulting from the motion accuracy of the two-axis rotational mechanism with respect to the reference ball of the optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer, without preparing a special calibrating device, on the operating instrument. As a result, traceability is secured.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The preferred embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings, wherein like elements have been denoted throughout the figures with like reference numerals, and wherein;

FIG. 1 is an optical path diagram showing an example of an optical system of an optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer;

FIG. 2 is an optical path diagram showing an optical system of an optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer disclosed by Patent Document 1;

FIG. 3 is an optical path diagram showing an optical system of an optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer proposed by the present applicant in Patent Document 2;

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a flowchart that shows calibrating steps of a displacement gauge in the embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the present invention will be hereinafter described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In this embodiment, a rectilinear movement mechanism 52 that enables a movement in the direction of a measurement optical axis (i.e., in the direction indicated by arrow “A”) is provided between a two-axis rotational mechanism 30 and carriages 36 and 38 that are mechanical components formed integrally with a laser interferometer length measuring apparatus 20 and with displacement gauges 50R and 50L as shown in FIG. 4, in addition to the prior invention that has been proposed by the present applicant in Patent Document 2 as shown in FIG. 3. A movement in the direction of the measurement optical axis by the rectilinear movement mechanism 52 is performed together with the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus 20 and the displacement gauges 50R and 50L.

Therefore, once the displacement gauges 50R and 50L are calibrated, the system of FIG. 4 can operate as an optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer in which the central coordinate of a reference ball 34 is regarded as a fixed reference.

For example, a Michelson interferometer can be used as the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus 20.

For example, a commercially available metallic ball can be used as the reference ball 34. This ball is industrially widely used, and is low in cost. A ceramic ball, a semiconducting ball, a glass ball, or a metal-coated ball can be used as the reference ball 34, besides such a metallic ball. However, if an eddy current sensor is used as the displacement gauge, a metallic ball or a metal-coated ball must be used as the reference ball 34.

For example, an electrical capacitance type displacement gauge or an eddy current type displacement gauge can be used as the displacement gauges 50R and 50L. Each of these displacement gauges has a sensor having a larger effective area than a dust size or a flaw size and having relatively low lateral resolution of the sensor, and hence is insusceptible to dust or flaws existing on the surface of the reference ball 34. A fiber sensor or various contact type displacement sensors can be used as the displacement gauge. As in the present embodiment, this displacement gauge can be disposed at both sides of the reference ball 34 so as to reduce the influence of a temperature change.

Displacement measurement in this embodiment is performed as follows.

In detail, the amount ΔL of change in length (i.e., displacement) between the fixed reference ball 34 used as a positional reference point and the retroreflecting means 12 is calculated by the following equation.

ΔL=(ΔL₂−ΔL₃)/2+ΔL₁   (1)

Herein, ΔL₁ is a relative displacement (on the supposition that the direction in which a distance is increased is positive +) between the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus 20 and the retroreflecting means 12, which is measured by using the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus 20. ΔL₂ is a relative displacement (on the supposition that the direction in which a distance is increased is positive +) between the displacement gauge 50R, which is disposed between the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus 20 and the reference ball 34, and the surface of the reference ball 34. ΔL₃ a relative displacement (on the supposition that the direction in which a distance is increased is positive +) between the displacement gauge 50L and the surface of the reference ball 34.

The surface of the highly-accurate reference ball 34 is constant in the distance from the center of the reference ball 34 with high accuracy. Therefore, the displacement of the retroreflecting means 12 based on the center of the reference ball 34 can be measured with high accuracy even when the carriage 38 rotates around the center of the reference ball 34.

The measurement of ΔL₁ can be performed according to a measuring method using the well-known Michelson interferometer in which the retroreflecting means 12 is an object to be measured, and is disclosed by Patent Documents 1 and 2, and hence a detailed description of this is omitted.

Additionally, the automatic tracking method of the retroreflecting means 12 is the same as the method disclosed by Patent Documents 1 and 2, and hence a description of this is omitted.

A series of steps for the calibration of the displacement gauge according to the present invention are performed as shown in FIG. 5.

These are hereinafter described in detail.

(1) As shown in FIG. 4, the retroreflecting means 12 that serves as a target is simply fixed near the optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer by use of, for example, a support 14 (step S1).

(2) A measurement beam 22 of the optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer is allowed to strike the retroreflecting means 12.

(3) The rectilinear movement mechanism 52, which is a mechanism that generates a displacement used to calibrate the displacement gauge, is moved in the direction of arrow “A” shown in FIG. 4 so as to give a displacement for calibration (step S2). The measurement value of the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus 20 (step S3) and the measurement values of the displacement gauges 50R and 50L obtained at this time are stored or recorded into, for example, a data memory (step S4).

Steps S2 to S4 are repeatedly performed until data acquisition is completed.

(4) When it is determined that data acquisition has been completed at step S5, the calibration values of the displacement gauges 50R and 50L are calculated according to, for example, a least squares method based on the acquired data (step S6), and are stored or recorded into, for example, a data memory (step S7).

(5) The displacement gauge is corrected with reference to the calibration curve of the displacement gauge obtained above.

(6) As shown in FIG. 3, the retroreflecting means 12 serving as a target is attached to the to-be-measured object 10, and measurement starts to be performed (step S8).

In this embodiment, the displacement gauges 50R and 50L are disposed at both sides of the reference ball 34, respectively, and hence the temperature drift of output projected from the displacement gauge can be compensated. In detail, if the right and left displacement gauges 50R and 50L are the same in the tendency of the temperature drift of output projected therefrom, the displacement ΔL obtained by Equation (1) will not be affected by the temperature drift of the output of the displacement gauge. For example, let it be supposed that an error ΔD caused by the temperature drift arises in the amount ΔL₂ of change measured by the right displacement gauge 50R so as to come to ΔL₂+ΔD. If the right and left displacement gauges 50R and 50L are the same in the tendency of the temperature drift, the same error as in the right displacement gauge 50R which is caused by the temperature drift will arise in the amount ΔL₃ of change measured by the left displacement gauge 50L at this time so as to come to ΔL₃+ΔD. At this time, the displacement ΔL is expressed by the following equation without being affected by the temperature drift of the displacement gauge.

$\begin{array}{cc}\begin{array}{c}\Delta L=\left\{\left(\Delta L_2+\Delta D\right)-\left(\Delta L_3+\Delta D\right)\right\}/2+\Delta L_1\\ =\left(\Delta L_2-\Delta L_3\right)/2+\Delta L_1\end{array}& \left(2\right)\end{array}$

Likewise, if the reference ball 34 is isotropically and thermally expanded, the thermal expansion of the reference ball 34 can be compensated.

Therefore, when the displacement gauges 50R and 50L are provided at both sides of the reference ball 34, a system that is robust against the temperature deformation can be constructed.

Any of the amount ΔL₂, the amount ΔL₃, and a difference therebetween (i.e. ΔL₂−ΔL₃) can be regarded as being calibrated according to the present invention.

Additionally, the apparatus in this embodiment is very robust also against the runout of the rotational mechanism. In detail, even if the entire carriage is positionally changed in the direction of the optical axis of a measurement beam of the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus 20 when the carriage 38 rotates around the reference ball 34, the displacement ΔL calculated as above is not affected by this positional change.

For example, let it be supposed that the entire carriage has been displaced by ΔD in the direction of the retroreflecting means 12. If so, ΔL₁ comes to ΔL₁−ΔD, ΔL₂ comes to ΔL₂+ΔD, and ΔL₃ comes to ΔL₃−ΔD. Therefore, ΔL is expressed as follows.

$\begin{array}{cc}\begin{array}{c}\Delta L=\left\{\left(\Delta L_2+\Delta D\right)-\left(\Delta L_3+\Delta D\right)\right\}/2+\left(\Delta L_1-\Delta D\right)\\ =\left(\Delta L_2-\Delta L_3\right)/2+\Delta L_1\end{array}& \left(3\right)\end{array}$

Thus, even if the carriage 38 is positionally changed in the direction of the optical axis of a measurement beam, the displacement ΔL calculated as above is not affected by this positional change.

Additionally, even if the entire carriage is positionally changed (rectilinearly) in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis of a measurement beam when the carriage 38 rotates around the reference ball 34, the displacement ΔL calculated as above is not affected by this positional change. First, ΔL₁ is not affected by this positional change. There is no change in the forward and backward optical path lengths between the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus 20 and the retroreflecting means 12 even if the laser interferometer measuring apparatus 20 is displaced in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis of a measurement beam. Therefore, ΔL₁ is not affected by this displacement (i.e. positional change). This results from the properties of the retroreflecting means 12. Next, if the displacement gauge 50R is displaced in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis of a measurement beam so that the value of ΔL₂ increases by ΔE, the value of ΔL₃ will increase by ΔE correspondingly. At this time, ΔL is expressed as follows.

$\begin{array}{cc}\begin{array}{c}\Delta L=\left\{\left(\Delta L_2+\Delta E\right)-\left(\Delta L_3-\Delta E\right)\right\}/2+\Delta L_1\\ =\left(\Delta L_2-\Delta L_3\right)/2+\Delta L_1\end{array}& \left(4\right)\end{array}$

Therefore, even if the entire carriage is positionally changed in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis of a measurement beam, the displacement ΔL calculated as above is not affected by this positional change.

As described above, even if the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus 20 is displaced in the direction of the optical axis of a measurement beam, and/or is displaced in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis of a measurement beam, ΔL is not affected by these positional changes in this embodiment. Therefore, the apparatus in this embodiment is very robust against the runout of the rotational mechanism.

It should be noted that ΔL can be measured, for example, by arranging the displacement gauge only on the side of the retroreflecting means 12. In this case, the displacement ΔL is calculated according to the following equation.

ΔL=ΔL ₂ +ΔL ₁   (5)

Herein, ΔL₂ and ΔL₁ are defined in the same way as in Equation (1).

In this case, since the number of displacement gauges to be used is one, the apparatus can be produced at low cost.

It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the above-described embodiments are merely illustrative which represent the application of the principles of the present invention. Numerous and varied other arrangements can be readily devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. An optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer comprising: a reference ball serving as a measurement reference;a retroreflecting means disposed at an object to be measured;a laser interferometer length measuring apparatus that outputs a measurement value according to an increase or a decrease in distance between the apparatus and the retroreflecting means; anda rotational mechanism that rotates a beam projected from the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus around the reference ball;the optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer measuring a distance between the laser interferometer and the retroreflecting means that makes an optical axis of an outgoing beam projected from the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus mounted on the rotational mechanism and an optical axis of a return beam returned to the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus parallel to each other, based on center coordinates of the reference ball;wherein the improvement comprises:a displacement gauge that measures an error caused by a relative motion between the reference ball and the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus; anda rectilinear movement mechanism that displaces these in a direction of an optical axis of a measurement beam with respect to the reference ball while maintaining a relative positional relationship between the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus and the displacement gauge.

2. The optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer according to claim 1, wherein the displacement gauge is disposed on both sides of the reference ball.

3. The optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer according to claim 1, wherein the displacement gauge is an electrical capacitance type displacement gauge or an eddy current type displacement gauge.

4. The optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer according to claim 1, wherein the laser interferometer measuring apparatus is a Michelson interferometer.

5. The optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer according to claim 1, wherein the reference ball is a commercially available metallic ball.

6. A calibration method of an optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer, the optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer comprising:a reference ball serving as a measurement reference;a retroreflecting means disposed at an object to be measured;a laser interferometer length measuring apparatus that outputs a measurement value according to an increase or a decrease in distance between the apparatus and the retroreflecting means;a rotational mechanism that rotates a beam projected from the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus around the reference ball;a displacement gauge that measures an error caused by a relative motion between the reference ball and the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus; anda rectilinear movement mechanism that displaces these in a direction of an optical axis of a measurement beam with respect to the reference ball while maintaining a relative positional relationship between the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus and the displacement gauge;the optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer measuring a distance between the laser interferometer and the retroreflecting means that makes an optical axis of an outgoing beam projected from the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus mounted on the rotational mechanism and an optical axis of a return beam returned to the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus parallel to each other, based on center coordinates of the reference ball;the calibration method comprising:a step of fixing the retroreflecting means near the optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer;a step of allowing a measurement beam of the optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer to strike the retroreflecting means;a step of operating the rectilinear movement mechanism and giving a displacement for calibration;a step of storing or recording a measurement value of the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus and a measurement value of the displacement gauge obtained at that time; anda step of calculating a calibration value of the displacement gauge in accordance with acquired data when data acquisition is completed and storing or recording the calibration value.

7. The calibration method of the optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer according to claim 6, wherein, referring only to a measurement value of the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus that is traceable to the length standard, calibration data of the displacement gauge is acquired by comparative measurement with the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus.

8. A correcting method of an optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer wherein, according to the calibration method of the optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer according to claim 6, a correcting operation is performed by using the calibration data of the displacement gauge obtained by the comparative measurement with the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus.

9. A measuring method of an optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer, the optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer comprising:a reference ball serving as a measurement reference;a retroreflecting means disposed at an object to be measured;a laser interferometer length measuring apparatus that outputs a measurement value according to an increase or a decrease in distance between the apparatus and the retroreflecting means;a rotational mechanism that rotates a beam projected from the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus around the reference ball;a displacement gauge that measures an error caused by a relative motion between the reference ball and the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus; anda rectilinear movement mechanism that displaces these in a direction of an optical axis of a measurement beam with respect to the reference ball while maintaining a relative positional relationship between the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus and the displacement gauge;the optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer measuring a distance between the laser interferometer and the retroreflecting means that makes an optical axis of an outgoing beam projected from the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus mounted on the rotational mechanism and an optical axis of a return beam returned to the laser interferometer measuring apparatus parallel to each other, based on center coordinates of the reference ball;the measuring method comprising:a step of fixing the retroreflecting means near the optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer;a step of allowing a measurement beam of the optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer to strike the retroreflecting means;a step of operating the rectilinear movement mechanism and giving a displacement for calibration;a step of storing or recording a measurement value of the laser interferometer length measuring apparatus and a measurement value of the displacement gauge obtained at that time;a step of calculating a calibration value of the displacement gauge in accordance with acquired data when data acquisition is completed and storing or recording the calibration value; anda step of attaching the retroreflecting means to an object to be measured and starting a measuring operation.

10. A measuring method of an optical-axis deflection type laser interferometer according to claim 9, further comprising: a step of correcting the measurement value by using the calibration value of the displacement gauge.