Do we know the wavelength of laser beams?

Author

Massa, E.

Author_Institution

Ist. di Fisica, Torino Univ., Italy

fYear

2000

fDate

14-19 May 2000

Firstpage

463

Lastpage

464

Abstract

This article deals with the effect of diffraction on the spatial periodicity of laser beams and gives particular attention to improvements in the mise en pratique of the definition of the meter. A general formula links the actual beam wavelength, which is not the same wavelength of its plane wave approximation, to the variances of the transverse components of photon impulse. Therefore, assessment of the values of these parameters is an integral part of the determination of the wavelength of radiations of stabilized lasers.

Keywords

Fourier transform optics; covariance matrices; laser beams; laser stability; light diffraction; light interferometry; measurement standards; measurement uncertainty; FT properties; actual beam wavelength; beam propagation parameters; coherent beams; converging lenses; covariance matrix; diffraction correction; diffraction effect; laser beams; laser interferometry; metre definition; photon impulse; plane wave deviations; propagation of errors; spatial periodicity; stabilized lasers; transverse component variances; uncertainty; Arm; Frequency measurement; Laser beams; Laser modes; Laser stability; Lenses; Optical diffraction; Optical interferometry; Optical propagation; Wavelength measurement;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Precision Electromagnetic Measurements Digest, 2000 Conference on

Conference_Location

Sydney, NSW, Australia

Print_ISBN

0-7803-5744-2

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/CPEM.2000.851076

Filename

851076