The application of laser interferometry techniques to study the dynamic behaviour of structural components is described. Being a non contact field technique, it allows the measurement of a dynamic displacement fields without need of additional fitting of transducers, which would change the mass of the structure. Image processing techniques are already available to reduce the time invested in th...

A computational method for predicting the output of a focused laser differential interferometer (FLDI) given an arbitrary density field is presented. The method is verified against analytical predictions and experimental data. The FLDI simulation software is applied to the problem of measuring Mack-mode wave packets in a hypervelocity boundary layer on a 5° half-angle cone. The software is show...

We report on the development of an all-interferometric optomechatronic sensor for the detection of multi-degrees-of-freedom displacements of a remote target. The prototype system exploits the self-mixing technique and consists only of a laser head, equipped with six laser sources, and a suitably designed reflective target. The feasibility of the system was validated experimentally for both sing...

Gravitational waves, one of the more exotic predictions of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, may, after 80 years of controversy over their existence, be detected within the next decade. Sources such as coalescing compact binary systems, stellar collapses and pulsars are all possible candidates for detection. The most promising design of gravitational wave detector, offering the possibili...

Gravitational-wave detection has been pursued relentlessly for over 40 years. With the imminent operation of a new generation of laser interferometers, it is expected that detections will become a common occurrence. The research into more ambitious detectors promises to allow the field to move beyond detection and into the realm of precision science using gravitational radiation. In this articl...

The Big Bang Observer is a proposed space-based gravitational-wave detector intended as a follow on mission to the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). It is designed to detect the stochastic background of gravitational waves from the early universe. We discuss how the interferometry can be arranged between three spacecraft for this mission and what research and development on key technol...

The frequency-dependent group delay of dielectric mirrors was measured by spectrally resolved white-light interferometry. Chirped mirrors and thin-film Gires-Tournois interferometers designed for dispersion control in a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser oscillator-amplifier system were tested with a group-delay resolution of +/-0.2 fs and a spectral resolution of ~1 nm over the spectral range of 67...

Fluctuations are expected to play an important role in anomalous particle, momentum, and energy transport for magnetic confinement devices. Magnetic and density fluctuations are simultaneously measured using a high-speed laser-based Faraday rotation-interferometry system with a bandwidth of 500 kHz and 8 cm chord spacing. Density fluctuation and magnetic fluctuation profiles are obtained by usi...

We present an implementation of spectral phase interferometry for direct electric-field reconstruction (SPIDER) which characterizes ultrashort optical pulses in the spectral or temporal domain at a rate of 20 Hz. This apparatus was used in real-time as a diagnostic tool to optimize our 1 kHz regeneratively amplified laser system for the shortest duration pulses.