Optical Interferometry and Precision Dimensional Metrology: Michelson to Fabry-Pérot, Laser Trackers in Shipyards, Ring-Laser Gyroscopes, and LIGO's Sub-Proton Strain Measurement

Deep End Era. Engineering with Sankalp · Oct 29, 2026 · 1h 11m

Light waves are nature's cleanest straightedge and finest vernier scale. When a forty-two-micrometre bolt-circle error on an offshore wind turbine flange and a thirty-eight-nanometre lithography stage stitch error trace back to two classic traps of optical metrology—Ernst Abbe's 1890 offset principle and Edlén's air refractive index gradient—we explore the full span of optical interferometry from factory laser trackers and ring-laser gyroscopes to LIGO's four-kilometre Fabry-Pérot arms.

Chapters

00:00:00 Opening: Two Mysteries of Light in Delft and Rotterdam

00:04:21 Albert Michelson…