Depth calibrations of a 2D-CMOS-based partially coherent light interferometer

This work concerns the development of a 3D measuring system able to realize noncontact surface topography with millimetric depth-range and micrometric resolutions both in the spatial and depth axes. The optical concept is based on the well known low coherence interferometry (LCI) technique. The most widespread set-up of such technique is that of measuring only a point at a time with a 2D scanning system that permits the measure on an area. The novel concept of our instrument is based on the use of a 2D sensor (CMOS), where every single pixel measures a point on the object and this permits a fast analysis on square centimeters areas without the need for any precise (and expensive) scanning system. We present here accurate depth calibration which shows the potentiality of this instrument.