Experimental micrometer-displacement measurements based on optical vortices

Abstract

In this work, a system for measuring micrometer-displacements based on the characteristics of optical vortices is presented. In the proposal, a binary vortex-producing lens (BVPL) programmed to generate optimized optical vortices is transversally displaced from the optical axis, inducing perturbations on the optical characteristics of the vortices that are used as transduction parameters. Specifically, the method proposed theoretically by Anzolin et al. [18], which is based on the asymmetry of the intensity patterns of the off-axis optical vortices, is studied experimentally by using BVPLs. Experimental implementation is completely described and compared with theoretical results, likewise, metrological characteristics of the experimental metrological system are analyzed. Based on the results, we experimentally confirm the possibility of creating high sensitivity metrological systems by using optical vortices, opening the door for new vortex metrology techniques.