INTERFERO METERS
These
are optical instruments used for measuring flatness and determining the length
of the slip gauges by direct reference to the wavelength of light.
It
overcomes the drawbacks of optical flats used in ordinary daylight.
In
these instruments the lay of the optical flat can be controlled and fringes can
be oriented as per the requirement.
An
arrangement is made to view the fringes directly from the top and avoid any
distortion due to incorrect viewing.
Optical Flat and Calibration
- Optical flat are flat lenses, made from quartz, having a very accurate surface to transmit light.
- They are used in interferometers, for testing plane surfaces.
- The diameter of an optical flat varies from 50 to 250 nun and thickness varies from 12 to 25 mm.
- Optical flats are made in a range of sizes and shapes.
- The flats are available with a coated surface.
- The coating is a thin film, usually titanium oxide, applied on the surface to reduce the light lost by reflection.
- The coating is so thin that it does not affect the position of the fringe bands, but a coated flat.
- The supporting surface on which the optical flat measurements are made must provide a clean, rigid platform.
Optical
flats are cylindrical in form, with the working surface and these are of two types:
i)
type
A,
ii)
type B.
Type
A:
It has
only one surface flat and is used for testing flatness of precision measuring
surfaces of flats, slip gauges and measuring tables.
The tolerance on flat
should be 0.05 µm for type A.
Type
B:
It has
both surfaces flat and parallel to each other.
They are used for testing
measuring surfaces of micrometers, Measuring anvils and similar length of
measuring devices for testing flatness and parallelism.
For these instruments,
their thickness and grades are important.
The tolerances on flatness,
parallelism and thickness should be 0.05 µm.
Interference Bands by Optical Flat
Optical
flats are blocks of glass finished to within 0.05 microns for flatness.
When
optical flat is on a flat surface which is not perfectly flat then optical
flat will not exactly coincide with it, but it will make an angle θ with the
surface as shown in Figure
