Reconstruction of displacement waveforms with a single-channel laser-diode feedback interferometer

Using a laser-diode feedback interferometer, we show how to reconstruct without ambiguity the displacement waveform of an external target from a single interferometric signal. We present the underlying theory with numerical simulations and report an example of actual reconstruction from experimental data. Reconstruction accuracy is on the order of tens of nanometers for displacements of a few micrometers.