Experiment 4 The Michelson Interferometer

Experiment 4

The Michelson Interferometer

1 Introduction
There are, in general, a number of types of optical instruments that produce optical interference. These instruments are grouped under the generic name of interferometers. The Michelson interferometer causes interference by splitting a beam of light into two parts. Each part is made to travel a dierent path and brought back together where they interfere according to their path length dierence. You will use the Michelson interferometer to observe the interference of two light sources: a HeNe laser and a sodium lamp. You will study interference patterns quantitatively to determine the wavelengths and splitting of the Na D lines empirically. You will use the HeNe laser interference spectrum to calibrate the interferometer.

2 Background - see Hecht, Chap. 9

2.1 The Michelson Interferometer The Michelson interferometer is a device that produces interference between two beams of light. A diagram of the apparatus is shown in Fig. 1. The basic operation of the interferometer is as follows. Light from a light source is split into two parts. One part of the light travels a dierent path length than the other. After traversing these dierent path lengths, the two parts of the light are brought together to interfere with each other. The interference pattern can be seen on a screen. Light from the source strikes the beam splitter (designated by S). The beam splitter allows 50% of the radiation to be transmitted to the translatable mirror M1 . The other 50% of the radiation is reected to the xed mirror M2 . The compensator plate C is introduced along this

Experiment 4 The Michelson Interferometer

Figure 1: Schematic illustration of a Michelson interferometer. path to make each path have the same optical path length when M1 and M2 are the same distance from the beam splitter. After returning from M1 , 50% of the light is reected toward the frosted glass screen. Likewise, 50% of the light returning from M2 is transmitted to the glass screen. At the screen, the two beams are superposed and one can observe the interference between them. 2.2 Interference of Waves With a Single Frequency

If two waves simultaneously propagate through the same region of space, the resultant electric eld at any point in that region is the vector sum of the electric eld of each wave. This is the principle of superposition. (We assume all waves have the same polarization). If two beams emanate from a common source, but travel over two dierent paths to a detector, the eld at the detector will be determined by the optical path dierence, which we will denote by x = x2 x1 . A related quantity is the phase dierence, , given by = 2 x = kx, (1)

where k is the wavenumber. Constructive interference occurs when = 2m, m = 0, 1, 2, 3, . . . . (2)

Destructive interference occurs when = (2m + 1) , m = 0, 1, 2, 3, . . . . (3)

Experiment 4 The Michelson Interferometer

Figure 2: Beat signal from two input frequencies into a Michelson interferometer

2.3

Interference of Waves with Two Frequencies

We will now consider the case of two frequencies with wavenumbers k1 and k2 that together follow two dierent paths with a dierence of x. The sum of the waves with dierent amplitudes at point x along the x-axis is given by: ET = eixk1 + ei(x+x)k1 E1 + eixk2 + ei(x+x)k2 E2 (4)

If we let a = E2 /E1 and dene k = (k1 k2 ) /2, after a lot of algebra, we can write the intensity (ET ET ) as: 2 1 + a + a2 + a cos 2kx + (1 + a) (cos k1 x + a cos k2 x) (5)

Figure 2 shows the expected signal, which consists of a fast oscillation as well as a slow oscillation characteristic of k.

Experiment 4 The Michelson Interferometer

3 Experiment
In the following experiments, you will calibrate the movement of M1 with the HeNe laser and use the interferometer to accurately measure the wavelengths of the ne structure doublet of the sodium D line, a consequence of the spin of the electron. 3.1 Calibration with HeNe Laser Light

Inject the laser beam into the Michelson intererometer. Make sure the beam is properly retro-reected. Initially, you will see two bright spots on the screen. Adjust the angle of the xed mirror until these two spots overlap. You can use lenses to expand the beam if necessary. Note, take care when moving M2 as the interference is very sensitive to its alignment. As you translate mirror M1 , you will see fringes appearing and disappearing on the screen. The interferometer lever arm reduction factor is 5X, so that the wavelength of the light can be found using 1 2d (6) = 5 m where d is the distance mirror M1 was moved and m is the number of rings that disappeared (or appeared) while M1 was being moved. Use the synchronous motor to facilitate the turning of the micrometer. As the micrometer is turning, record the interference data with the computer. The motor runs at 0.5 rpm and the micrometer moves 5 104 m/rev. This can give you a check of things, but we will use the HeNe data (look up the HeNe wavelength on the web) to accurately calibrate the speed. 3.2 Sodium Light

Now use the sodium lamp to produce an interference pattern. Since the spectrum of this light consists primarily of two closely spaced lines (a doublet), each wavelength will produce its own set of fringes. Your goal will be to empirically determine 1 and 2 by measuring the nely spaced fringes and the beat pattern. It is much more challenging to get good interference patterns with the lamps, so take your time and play with alignment, lamp placement, and possible lens placement. You will need to increase the gain in your detection system. You should observe both the nely spaced pattern as well as a modulation in the contrast at the dierence frequency of the two lines. Your goal is to as accurately as possible measure the wavelength of the two sodium lines. Be sure to carefully estimate uncertainties. Each of the doublet lines of the sodium lamp are not monochromatic

Experiment 4 The Michelson Interferometer

due to broadening from pressure eects and motion of the atoms in the lamp (Doppler eect). This means the coherence length is not that large. If the path length dierence is too large, you will not see any fringes. Measure the coherence length of your lamp.