US 12,292,274 B2
Interferometric lens aligner and method
Jan Liesener, Middletown, CT (US); and Paul A. Townley-Smith, Irvine, CA (US)
Assigned to Zygo Corporation, Middlefield, CT (US)
Filed by Zygo Corporation, Middlefield, CT (US)
Filed on Jul. 21, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/869,846.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/226,449, filed on Jul. 28, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0031531 A1, Feb. 2, 2023
Int. Cl. G01B 11/27 (2006.01); G01B 11/24 (2006.01); G02B 27/62 (2006.01)
CPC G01B 11/272 (2013.01) [G01B 11/2441 (2013.01); G02B 27/62 (2013.01)] 32 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for determining information about an alignment of one or more optical components of a multi-component assembly, the method comprising:
a. detecting an optical interference pattern produced from a combination of at least three optical wave fronts including at least two optical wave fronts caused by reflections from at least two surfaces of the one or more optical components; and
b. computationally processing information derived from the detected optical interference pattern with at least one simulated optical wave front derived from a model of at least one selected optical surface of the at least two surfaces to computationally isolate information corresponding to an alignment of the selected optical surface,
wherein the information derived from the detected optical interference pattern is a spatially-resolved intensity profile or a spatially-resolved complex amplitude profile, and where the computational processing comprises multiplying the spatially-resolved intensity profile or the spatially-resolved complex amplitude profile by the simulated optical wave front and transforming a spatially resolved product from the multiplication from spatial coordinates to spatial frequency coordinates to yield an intensity image in the spatial frequency coordinates having a dominant peak corresponding to the selected optical surface.