Interferometry is the name for a class of measurement techniques based on the interference of coherent optical fields or other electromagnetic radiation. Generally, Interferometric measurements are extremely accurate, but can be difficult to perform. Common uses for interferometry are optical component metrology and stellar interferometry, although there are many applications.
Interferometry is a measurement method using the phenomenon of interference of waves (usually light, radio or sound waves). The measurements may include those of certain characteristics of the waves themselves and the materials that the waves interact with. In addition, interferometry is used to describe the techniques that use light waves for the study of changes in displacement. This displacement measuring interferometry is extensively used for calibration and mechanical stage motion control in precision machining.
Interferometry typically uses electromagnetic waves and is an important investigative technique in the fields of astronomy, fiber optics, engineering metrology, optical metrology, oceanography, seismology, spectroscopy (and its applications to chemistry), quantum mechanics, nuclear and particle physics, plasma physics, remote sensing, biomolecular interactions, surface profiling, microfluidics, mechanical stress/strain measurement, velocimetry, optometry, and making holograms.
For more details see:
Handbook of Immunoassay Technologies: Approaches, Performances, and Applications by Sandeep K. Vashist and John H.T. Luong
Interferometry and its Applications in Surface Metrology By Dahi Ghareab Abdelsalam and Baoli Yao
Interferometry explained
