Inexpensive Michelson Interferometer

Abstract

The construction and operating characteristics of a Michelson interferometer designed on kinematic principles are outlined. The main components are ground steel dowel pins and ball bearings which are commercially available. The construction requires only a moderate amount of mechanical skill. Preliminary results indicate that the device is quite suitable for use in the undergraduate optics laboratory.

Demonstrating optical-path compensation in a Michelson interferometer

“…One of the basic optics undergraduate experiments is the Michelson interferometer [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Different aspects of optics can be studied with this apparatus, including interference and temporal coherence and its relationship with the spectrum of the light source, as well as displacements and the refractive index of materials [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8].…”

“…One of the basic optics undergraduate experiments is the Michelson interferometer [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Different aspects of optics can be studied with this apparatus, including interference and temporal coherence and its relationship with the spectrum of the light source, as well as displacements and the refractive index of materials [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Usually, three different types of light sources are used with the Michelson: a laser, to measure the wavelength of the light, the refractive index of air by counting fringes or displacements of one of the interferometer mirrors [3]; a gas emission lamp, commonly sodium to measure the separation between the two lines of the sodium d-line doublet [7]; and a white light source as an example of a low-coherence source to demonstrate the production of a few colored fringes in very narrow region of the mirror positions due to this low coherence [8].…”

Low-cost Quadrature Optical Interferometer

“…10 There is a certain utility, however, in exploring the degree to which interferometers can be homebuilt and/or scaled down to minimal components and cost. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] Such devices expand the growing body of optics capabilities enabled by the maker movement, [20][21][22][23][24][25][26] and could, for example, be assembled by hobbyists or produced at scale and shipped out to students in largeenrollment online classes.…”

Low cost Michelson–Morley interferometer

“…Many modifications to the original apparatus have been made by different researchers subsequently. Cave et al [2] made a low cost Michelson-Morley interferometer using a metal base and gears for moving the mirror. Young et al [3] used 1 mm or 2 mm glass plates for adjusting the path difference, and obtained a formula for the number of fringes as a function of the bandwidth of the source.…”