Transparent Plate Thickness Measurement Approach Using a Chromatic Confocal Sensor Based on a Geometric Phase Lens

In this investigation, we describe a chromatic confocal sensor based on a geometric phase lens for measuring the thicknesses of transparent plates. In order to design a compact sensor, a geometric phase lens, which has diffractive and polarizing characteristics, is used as a device to generate chromatic aberration, and a fiber optic module is adopted. The systematic error of the sensor is reduced with wavelength peak detection by Gaussian curve fitting and the common error compensation obtained by the repeatedly consecutive experimental results. An approach to calculate the plate thickness is derived and verified with sapphire and BK7 plates. Because of the simple and compact design of the proposed sensor with rapid measurement capability, it is expected to be widely used in thickness measurements of transparent plates as an alternative to traditional approaches.