Rami Arieli: "The
Laser Adventure" Chapter 10 Section 0, page 4
Michelson Interferometer
In the 20th of the twentieth century, Michelson
invented the Interferometer
which is based on the interference of two waves coming from the same origin.
Michelson received the Nobel price in 1907.
Today, the interferometer is one of the most accurate measuring
instrument in use.
Michelson interferometer is an instrument
which use interference between two beams of electromagnetic radiation,
which are created by common origin.
In Michelson interferometer, like the Young
interference experiment, a parallel beam of light is split
by a beam splitter into two beams, as can be seen in figure 10.1.
Figure 10.1: Michelson Interferometer
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The two beams travel in directions at 900 to each other.
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Each beam hit a mirror and is reflected back to the beam splitter.
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From the beam splitter the two beams arrive at the screen in a common path.
On the screen an interference pattern is seen, if
the optical path difference between the two beams is less than the coherence
length of the laser (as explained in the following pages).