A measurement system based on a simple double-beam interferometry is built to realize the measurement of air refractive index with high accuracy. The basic principle of the system is that, through measuring the change of optical path difference caused by rapid and smooth vacuumization, measurement of refractive index of air is converted to length measurement. Error correction and signal processing are studied to ensure high-accuracy measurement of the refractive index of air. Three applicable methods are used in system. The system based on the methods realize the subdivision and counting of interference fringe by software with three-error correction, error compensation for the end-window plates’ thickness change caused by vacuumization, steady realization of high vacuum conditions. To verify the accuracy and reliability of the system, the measurement results are compared with that obtained from the method based on empirical Edlén’s formula. Analysis result shows that the expanded measurement uncertainty of the system is U = 5×10⁻⁹, with k = 2. The system can be used to compensate the laser wavelength error caused by the refractive index of air with high accuracy.

Currently, there are various types of microscales and the conventional line detection system usually has only one detection method, which is difficult to adapt to the diverse calibration needs of microscales. This article investigates the high-precision measurement method of a microscale based on optoelectronics and the image integration method to solve the diversified calibration needs of microscales. The automatic measurement and processing system integrates two methods: the photoelectric signal measurement method and the photoelectric image measurement method. This article studies the smooth motion method based on ordinary linear guides, investigates the method of reducing the cosine error of a small-range interference length measurement, proposes an image-based line positioning method, and studies the edge and center recognition algorithms of the line. According to the experimental data, the system’s measurement accuracy was analyzed using the photoelectric signal measurement method to measure the 1 mm microscale, the maximum difference from the reference value was 0.105 μm, the standard uncertainty was 0.068 μm, and the absolute value of normalized error was less than 1. The accuracy of the image measurement method to measure the 1 mm microscale was consistent with that of the photoelectric signal method. The results show good consistency in the measurement results between the two methods of the integrated measurement system. The photoelectric signal method has the technical characteristics of high measurement efficiency and high accuracy, while the pixel-based measurement of the image method has two-dimensional measurement characteristics, which can realize measurements that cannot be realized by the photoelectric signal method; therefore, the measurement system of optoelectronics and image integration is characterized by high precision and a wide range of measurement adaptations.

End-plate surface distance is important for length value dissemination in the field of metrology. For the measurement of distance of two surfaces, the positioning method is the key for realizing high precision. A practical method with nanometer positioning precision is introduced in consideration of the complexity of positioning laser sources of the traditional methods and new methods. The surface positioning is realized by the combination of laser interference and white light interference. In order to verify the method, a 0.1 mm height step is made, and an experiment system based on the method is established. The principle and the basic theory of the method are analyzed, and the measures to enhance the repeatability from optical and mechanical factors and signal processing methods are presented. The experimental result shows that the surface positioning repeatability is in the order of 10 nm. The measurement uncertainty evaluation shows that the standard uncertainty is 21 nm for a 0.1 mm step. It is concluded that the method is suitable to be applied to the length measurement standard of the lab.