The dynamics of an optically trapped particle are often determined by measuring intensity shifts of the back-scattered light from the particle using position sensitive detectors. We present a technique which measures the phase of the back-scattered light using balanced detection in an external Mach-Zehnder interferometer scheme where we separate out and beat the scattered light from the particl...

The status and plans for the first generation long baseline suspended mass interferometers TAMA, GEO, LIGO and Virgo are presented, as well as the expected performances. INTRODUCTION The effect of the propagating gravitational wave is to deform space in a quadrupolar form. The characteristics of the deformation are indicated in Fig. 1. 0 ~ o T <\ \ 9 ^ * ^ © Gravitational Waves z FIGURE 1. The ...

We present multimodal noncontact photoacoustic (PA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging. PA signals are acquired remotely on the surface of a specimen with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The interferometer is realized in a fiber-optic network using a fiber laser at 1550 nm as the source. In the same fiber-optic network, a spectral-domain OCT system is implemented. The OCT system util...

This paper describes an electrode-less, all-optical, wideband electric field sensor fabricated in an electro-optic lithium niobate substrate. The sensor component is an integrated optic Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The electric field sensor uses the electro-optic properties of lithium niobate to modulate the phase of the light propagating in each arm of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The phas...

Laser-based ultrasonics (LBU) is now becoming a more mature technology, making the transition from research laboratory equipment to industrial on-line measurement system possible. The non-contact and remote capability of LBU is an undeniable advantage for high-speed inspection. A major challenge for LBU receivers is to overcome the random phase and intensity distributions (speckles) of laser li...

The sensitivity of laser interferometers can be pushed into regimes that enable the direct observation of the quantum behaviour of mechanical oscillators. In the past, membranes with subwavelength thickness (thin films) have been proposed to be high-mechanical-quality, low-thermal-noise oscillators. Thin films from a homogeneous material, however, generally show considerable light transmission ...