Laser metrology evolution: past, present, and future

Nils H. Abramson

doi:10.1117/12.201906

Translator Disclaimer

17 February 1995 Laser metrology evolution: past, present, and future

Nils H. Abramson

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 2333, Fifth International Symposium on Display Holography; (1995) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.201906
Event: Display Holography: Fifth International Symposium, 1994, Lake Forest, IL, United States

Abstract

There is no doubt that the laser has in many ways far surpassed even the wildest ideas of what it could do. Our most important unit, the meter, is practically defined as a certain number of lightwaves, and now with the use of the laser interferometer we measure with the light waves directly in the workshop. The laser has also made possible a new definition of the meter -- the distance that light travels in a certain fraction of a second. Thus, time and space have become connected in a way I am sure Einstein should have appreciated. With the laser we can produce ultrashort pulses made up of only a few waves. And with these pulses we can make measurements down to micrometers. Soon, even this new definition of the meter can be used directly in the workshops.

Citation Download Citation

Nils H. Abramson "Laser metrology evolution: past, present, and future", Proc. SPIE 2333, Fifth International Symposium on Display Holography, (17 February 1995); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.201906

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE