Measurement accuracy of the pulse repetition interval-based excess fraction (PRIEF) method: An analogy-based theoretical analysis

Abstract

We describe a novel approach for a theoretical analysis of the measurement accuracy of the pulse repetition interval-based excess fraction (PRIEF) method, which is expected to be useful for high-precision length measurement. The proposed approach is introduced by focusing on an analogy between the PRIEF method and the conventional length-measurement method. The theoretical analysis results show that the absolute accuracy achievable by the PRIEF method is nanometer-order, and the relative accuracy achievable by the PRIEF method is 10-8-order, which is affected mainly by the measuring accuracy of the refractive index of air. We conclude that our analysis is useful for further development of the PRIEF method.