Large-aperture ultra-long focal length measurement and its system by laser confocal techniques

Abstract

A new laser confocal ultralong focal length measurement method (LCFM) is proposed with the capability to self-calibrate the reference lens (RL) focal length and the axial space between the test lens and the RL. Using the property that the focus of a laser confocal ultralong focal length measurement system (LCFS) precisely corresponds to the peak point of the confocal axial intensity curve, the proposed LCFM measures the RL focal length by precisely identifying the positions of the focus and the last surface of the RL, measures the axial space d0 between the RL and the test ultra-long focal-length lens (UFL) by identifying the last surface of the RL and the vertex of the UFL last surface, measures the variation l in focus position of the LCFS with and without the test UFL, and then calculates the UFL focal length using the above-measured , d0, and l. Furthermore, the LCFM uses conic fitting, which obviously enhances the measurement accuracy by reducing the influences of random disturbances. In addition, an LCFS based on the proposed method is developed for large aperture lens. The experimental results indicate that the relative uncertainty is less than 0.015% for the test UFL, which has an aperture of 610 mm and a focal length of 31 000 mm. Compared with existing methods, the LCFM utilizes a concise structure and has good stability, making it especially suitable for practical engineering applications.