Scanning white light interferometry and micro-force measurements were applied to analyse stimulus transformation in strain sensors in the spider exoskeleton. Two compound or 'lyriform' organs consisting of arrays of closely neighbouring, roughly parallel sensory slits of different lengths were examined. Forces applied to the exoskeleton entail strains in the cuticle, which compress and thereby ...

A modified Michelson interferometer is used to measure path-length resolved angular distributions of light backscattered by turbid media. The path length resolution is obtained by exploiting the coherence properties of a broadband source. The angular distribution is mapped out using a simple optical system to scan the angle at which the reference field intersects the detector plane. Angular sca...

We investigate the use of ground-based gravitational-wave interferometers for studies of the strong-field domain of QED. Interferometric measurements of phase velocity shifts induced by quantum fluctuations in magnetic fields can become a sensitive probe for nonlinear self-interactions among macroscopic electromagnetic fields. We identify pulsed magnets as a suitable strong-field source, since ...

Abstract Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) in free fall constitute a promising source for space-borne interferometry. Indeed, BECs enjoy slowly expanding wave function, display large spatial coherence and can be engineered probed by optical techniques. Here we explore matter-wave fringes of multiple spinor components BEC released employing light-pulses to drive Bragg processes induce phase impri...

The rapidly developing fields of Micro-Electro Mechanical System (MEMS) and micro optics require non contact and high precision measurements. Optical profilers are ideally suited for this. Monochromatic Phase Shifting Interferometry(PSI) can be used to measure slowly varying profiles and step height of less than half a wavelength. White light interferometry is used when large step height are to...

By performing two-beam coupling experiments in a liquid crystal light-valve, optical beam amplification is obtained as a strongly resonant process to which a narrow frequency bandwidth is associated. By exploiting this property, we realize an adaptive holographic interferometric system that is able to efficiently sensing displacements as small as fraction of picometers. The adaptive interferome...

This paper presents a high speed surface profile optical measurement technique based on white light spectral interferometry and parallel signal processing using a general purpose graphic processing unit (GPGPU). A white light source is used to acquire the surface profile of the sample instantly in real time through a cylindrical Michelson interferometer. The interference signals are resolved by...

We present a novel method for obtaining depth-resolved spectra for determining scatterer size through elastic-scattering properties. Depth resolution is achieved with a white-light source in a Michelson interferometer with the mixed signal and reference fields dispersed by a spectrograph. The spectrum is Fourier transformed to yield the axial spatial cross correlation between the signal and ref...