Realization of a robust homodyne quadrature laser interferometer by performing wave plate yawing to realize ultra-low error sensitivity

The deviation of wave plates' optical axes from their intended angles, which may result from either instability or assembly error, is the main cause of quadrature phase error in homodyne quadrature laser interferometers (HQLIs). The quadrature phase error sensitivity to wave plate angle deviations, which is an effective measure of HQLI robustness, is further amplified by beam splitter imperfections. In this paper, a new HQLI design involving non-polarization beam splitting is presented, and a method of making this HQLI robust by yawing the wave plates in the measurement and reference arms is proposed. The theoretical analysis results indicate that ultra-low quadrature phase error sensitivities to wave plate angle deviations can be realized and that non-polarizing beam splitter imperfections can be adequately compensated for. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can reduce the quadrature phase error sensitivity by more than 1 order of magnitude, from a theoretical value of 1.4°/1° to 0.05°/1°.