Electro-Optical Instrumentation: Sensing and Measuring with Lasers

Optoelectronics is where electronics meets physics. It can be defined as the theory, design, manufacture, and operation of hardware that converts electrical signals to visible or infrared radiation (infrared) energy, or vice-versa. Applications of optoelectronics extend throughout our everyday lives, including the fields of computing, communication, entertainment, education, electronic commerce, health care and transportation. Defense applications include military command and control functions, imaging, radar, aviation sensors, and optically guided weapons. Optoelectronics businesses manufacture components such as lasers, optical discs, image sensors, or optical fibers, and all sorts of equipment and systems that are critically dependent on optoelectronics components. This book covers the laser instrumentation for the measurement of physical quantities as found in today's scientific, industrial, automotive and avionics applications. For each of the considered instruments, the basic principle is outlined, along with the ultimate performance that can be expected by physical limitations. Then, the design of optical section as well as of the electronic handling of signals is presented by block-schemes and developed in some detail. The book is backed by design rules and hints useful for the practical implementation of the instrument. Device coverage includes: interferometers, nano-meter vibrometers, doppler-velocimeters, gyroscopes and more!