Patent 7292347 was granted and assigned to Mitutoyo on November, 2007 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
An absolute distance measuring device based on laser interferometry may combine coarse, intermediate, and highest resolution measurement techniques to find the absolute distance to a sample surface with high resolution. The device may provide at least two laser wavelengths simultaneously, to allow reduction or elimination of certain common-mode error components, including dynamic error components. The device may scan at least one of the laser wavelengths over a relatively narrow range and may use quadrature detectors to provide enough signal data to allow certain self-corrections to be performed on the resulting scanned signals and measurements. A novel tunable laser and/or quadrature detector may provide advantages in combination with the device.