Patent ID: 9733616
Date: 2017-08-15
CPC Classifications: G01B,G01M,G01N,G02B,G03H

Claim:
1. A portable inspection probe for the inspection of a recessed mating surface of an optical fiber connector to be used with a rigid probe tip connectable thereto and shaped to provide optical access to the recessed mating surface, the portable inspection probe comprising: a handheld portable housing comprising a tip connector to which the rigid probe tip is connectable, the rigid probe tip protruding from the handheld portable housing upon connection to the tip connector; and a digital holographic detection module accommodated at least partly inside the handheld portable housing and configured to propagate an object beam and a reference beam along respective object and reference optical paths and to direct, without mechanical focus adjustment or control, the object and reference beams to interfere at a holographic detection plane after reflection of the object beam from the recessed mating surface, thereby forming the hologram of the recessed mating surface, the digital holographic detection module comprising: a light source assembly configured to generate the object and reference beams; a detector array positioned at the holographic detection plane and configured to digitally record the hologram of the recessed mating surface; and a probing lens assembly configured to direct the object beam onto the recessed mating surface and to collect the object beam after reflection from the recessed mating surface.