Laser multi-reflection confocal long focal-length measurement

We propose a new laser multi-reflection confocal focal-length measurement (MCFM) method to meet the requirements of a high-precision measurement for a long focal-length more than 2 m. It places an optical flat and a reflector behind the test lens for reflecting the measuring beam repeatedly, and then, uses the property that the peak points of confocal response curves precisely corresponds to the convergence points of a multi-reflected measuring beam to exactly identify the positions of the convergence points. Subsequently, it obtains the position variation of the reflector with a different number of reflections by a distance measuring instrument, and thereby achieving the high precise long focal-length measurement. The theoretical analyses and preliminary experimental results indicate that MCFM has a relative standard uncertainty of 0.066% for a test lens with the focal-length of 9.76 m. MCFM can provide a novel approach for the high-precision focal-length measurement.