Geometry-based, Gaussian profile model for optical knife-edge displacement sensor
This article describes an analytical model for the well-known optical knife-edge displacement sensor that predicts the relationship between the knife-edge displacement and photointerrupter output. The model includes: 1) the geometry of a rectangular knife-edge profile penetrating a circular laser beam perpendicular to the beam axis; and 2) the Gaussian intensity profile for the beam cross-section. A comparison between the model predictions and measured photointerrupter for a linear range of knife-edge displacements is provided. It is shown that good agreement is obtained without model calibration.
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