Digital multi-wavelength optical absolute ranging

Written By Aliesha Aden

McSorley, S., Dix-Matthews, B. P., Lance, A. M., Gozzard, D. R., & Schediwy, S. W. (2025). Digital multi-wavelength optical absolute ranging. Optics Letters, 50(11), 3764–3767. https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.519330

Abstract

Optical metrology underpins sensing applications that require extreme precision and accuracy. Optical metrology with a continuous-wave source is constrained by the near-ambiguous range of one optical wavelength, limiting the realization of full interferometric sensitivity. We present a digitally tunable, multi-wavelength continuous-wave optical phase measurement scheme, which can be used for absolute laser ranging. This system was demonstrated over a free-space link on an optical bench, with a distance uncertainty of, at best, 0.2 μm—sufficient to resolve the continuous-wave optical fringe. This design is flexible and can be applied to both coherent optical ranging and optical time and frequency transfer.

Aliesha Aden
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