Interferometry

The Michelson Interferometer

Fringes in delay
Fringes in position

The Michelson-Morley Experiment

Prelude to Special Relativity

Other Interferometers
Mach-Zehnder
Sagnac
Fizeau Wedge
Application
Irradiance of a Sum of Two Waves
Same polarizations Perpendicular polarizations
Coherent
addition
I = I1 + I 2 +
I = I1 + I 2
Same
colors {
ce Re E1 × E2 *
}
Incoherent
addition
I = I1 + I 2 I = I1 + I 2
Different
colors

Interference only occurs when the waves have the same color and
polarization. In this lecture, we’ll only consider this case.
Interference
Michelson-Morley Experiment
19th-century physicists thought that light was a vibration of a
medium, like sound. So they postulated the existence of a medium
whose vibrations were light: aether.

Michelson and Morley Parallel and

realized that the earth’s anti-parallel
orbit around the sun would propagation
cause it to move with
respect to the aether. Mirror
And light would have a Beam- Perpendicular
different path length and splitter propagation
phase shift depending on
Mirror
whether it propagated
parallel and anti-parallel or
perpendicular to the aether. Supposed velocity of
earth through the aether
Michelson’s and Morley’s Set Up
They folded the path to increase the total path of each arm to 11m.
Illustration
Illustration
The Michelson Input Output
beam beams
Interferometer
L2
The Michelson Interferometer splits a Mirror
Iout
I0
beam into two and then recombines
I0 L1
them at the same beam splitter. Two Beam-
beamlets emerge, and another two splitter
Delay
return to the source. We’ll only Mirror
consider the emerging beamlets.

I out = 2 I 0 + 2 I 0 cos(2wt ) = 2 I 0 + 2 I 0 cos(2kd L)

where d L = L2 – L1 Fringes (in delay)

Dark fringe I Bright fringe
Use a Michelson
interferometer to measure
the wavelength of
d L = L2 – L1
monochromatic light. l/2
Technical Point about Michelson
Interferometers: Input
the Compensator beam
Beam-
Plate splitter
Output
beam
Mirror

If reflection occurs off

So a compensator the front surface of the
plate (identical to the Reflective
surface beam splitter, the
beam splitter, except transmitted beam
for the reflective passes through it three
surface) is usually times; the reflected
added to equalize beam passes through
Mirror
the path length only once. This yields a
through glass. difference in GVD!
 !
Beams Crossing at an Angle k1 = k cos q zˆ
x Fringes + k sin q xˆ
! q
k2 !
z
k2 = k cos q zˆ
! - k sin q xˆ
k1 L

E1 + E2 = E0 {exp [i (w t - kz cosq - kx sin q )] + exp [i (w t - kz cosq + kx sin q ) ]}

= E0 exp [i (w t - kz cosq )][exp( -ikx sin q ) + exp( +ikx sin q ) ]

Þ Etot ( x, z, t ) = 2 E0 exp [i (wt - kz cosq ) ] cos( kx sin q )

Þ I ( x, t ) µ I 0 cos 2 (kx sin q ) = 12 I 0 [1 + cos(2kx sin q )]

Fringe spacing: L = 2p/(2ksinq) or L = l/(2sinq)

Irradiance vs. Position for Crossed Beams

Fringes occur where the beams overlap in space and time.

L = l/(2sinq)
Pulsed Waves Crossing at an Angle
The Michelson x
Input
beam
Interferometer z

and Spatial Fringes

Suppose we misalign the mirrors so the
beams cross at an angle when they Fringes
recombine at the beam splitter. And we won't
scan the delay. If the input beam is a plane
wave, the cross term is (as before):
Now, moving a mirror by I ( x) µ 1 + cos(2kx sin q )
d L shifts the fringes by a
phase 2k d L (= 2wt ): Fringes (in position)
Dark fringe I Bright fringe
I ( x) µ
1 + cos(2kx sin q - 2k d L) x
L
= 1 + cos(2kx sin q - 2wt ) L = l /(2sin q )
Michelson-Morley Experiment: Details 1

If light requires a medium, then its velocity depends on the velocity of

the medium. Velocity vectors add.

Parallel Anti-parallel
velocities velocities
! ! ! !
vlight v aether v aether vtotal
! !
vtotal vlight

vtotal = vlight + v aether vtotal = vlight - v aether

Michelson-Morley Experiment: Details 2
In the other arm of the interferometer, the total velocity must be
perpendicular, so light must propagate at an angle.

Perpendicular Perpendicular
velocity to mirror velocity after mirror
!
v aether !
vlight !
vtotal
! !
vlight vtotal
!
v aether

vtotal = vligh
2
t - v 2
aether
Michelson-Morley Experiment: Details 3
Let c be the speed of light, and v be the velocity of the aether.

Parallel and
L L !
T|| = + anti-parallel
v aether
c-v c+v propagation
L(c + v) L(c - v)
= 2 + 2
c -v 2
c - v2 Perpendicular
2 Lc 2L 1 propagation
= 2 =
c - v2 c 1 - v2 / c2
2L
The delays for the two arms depend T^ =
differently on the velocity of the aether! c2 - v2
Note
This yields a fringe phase shift: the 2L 1
=
wt = w (T|| - T^ ) square c 1 - v2 / c2
root!
Michelson-Morley Exp’t: More Details
But the fringe shift must be compared to a reference fringe phase.
So Michelson and Morley did the measurement again, the second
time after rotating the apparatus by 90°, !
which yields the opposite fringe shift. v aether

2L 1
T^|| =
c [11--vv22 //cc22]

The fringe shift between the two

experiments will be double the single- 2L 1
measurement fringe shift: T||^ =
c [11--vv22 //cc22]
2w (T|| - T^ )
Michelson-Morley Experiment Analysis
So the difference in fringe shift between the initial measurement
and that of the 90°-rotated apparatus is:

2L æ 1 1 ö
2w (T|| - T^ ) = 2w ç - ÷
c è1- v / c
2 2
1- v / c ø
2 2

Assuming v << c:
1 1
» 1 + v 2
/ c 2
» 1 + v 2 / 2c 2
1 - v2 / c2 1 - v2 / c2
2
2L 2 L v
» 2w é(1 + v 2 / c 2 ) - (1 + v 2 / 2c 2 ) ù = 2w
c ë û c 2c 2

w
v2 L v2
2w (T|| - T^ ) » 2 L 2 = 4π
because
Þ w/c = k = 2p/l
c c l c2
Michelson-Morley Experimental Prediction
The fringe
L v2
phase-shift upon 2w (T|| - T^ ) = 4π
rotation: l c2
v/c = 0.0001, and
it gets squared.
The Earth’s orbital speed is: v = 3 × 104 m/s
Fortunately, L/l
is large.
and the interferometer size is: L = 1.2 m

Nevertheless, the time difference 2(T|| - T^ ) is: 8 × 10−17 s.

Although the time difference was very small, w is large for visible
light, and this corresponds to a phase shift of:
0.2 rad = 0.03 periods.

This phase shift is measurable by a Michelson interferometer.

Michelson-Morley
Experiment: Results
The Michelson interferometer was
(and may still be) the most sensitive
measure of distance (or time) ever Their apparatus
invented and should’ve revealed a
fringe shift as it was rotated with
respect to the aether velocity.

Shift in position
Angle

Angle

Interference fringes showed no Michelson and Morley's results

change as the interferometer from A. A. Michelson, Studies in
was rotated. Optics
Huge Michelson interfer-
ometers may someday
detect gravitational waves.
Gravitational waves (emitted by all massive objects) warp space-time ever
so slightly. Relativity predicts them, but they’ve never been detected.
Supernovae and colliding black holes emit gravitational waves that may
be detectable.

Gravitational waves are “quadrupole”

waves, which stretch space in one
L2
direction and shrink it in another.
They should cause one arm of a
L1
Michelson interferometer to stretch L1 and L2 ~ 4 km!
and the other to shrink, increasing dL.

Unfortunately, the distance difference (dL ~ 10-16 cm) is less than the
width of a nucleus! So such measurements are very very difficult!
 The building
The LIGO project containing an arm
CalTech LIGO

A small fraction
of one arm of the
CalTech LIGO
interferometer…

Hanford LIGO

The control center

The Unbalanced Michelson Interferometer
First, misalign the mirrors, so the beams cross at an angle.
x
Suppose an object is Input
beam Fringes
placed in one arm.
z

Now, one beam double- Mirror

passes the object and so
will have an extra Beam-
splitter
spatially varying phase, Place an
2f(x,y). Mirror object in
this path
The output irradiance becomes: f(x,y)

I ( x) µ 1 + cos[2kx sin q - 2f ( x, y )] that is, distorted fringes!

Phase variations of a small fraction of a wavelength can be measured.

The unbalanced Michelson interferometer
can sensitively measure phase vs. position.

Placing an object in one arm of a Spatial fringes distorted by

(misaligned) Michelson interferometer the heat from a soldering
will distort the spatial fringes. iron tip in one path

Input
beam

Mirror

Beam-
splitter
Distorted
fringes
Mirror

The Michelson interferometer double-passes the object, which can be

a problem if the object has very fine structure.
The Mach-Zehnder Interferometer
In the Mach-Zehnder interferometer, the beam single-passes the object.

Beam-
splitter
Mirror
Output
beam
Object

Input
beam
Mirror
Beam-
splitter

The Mach-Zehnder interferometer is usually operated with crossed

beams to yield distorted spatial fringes due to an object in one arm.
Mach-Zehnder Interferograms
Nothing in either path Plasma in one path

Focus an intense laser

pulse into one of the
arms of the Mach-
Zehnder interferometer.

Mach-Zehnder interferograms of Lysozyme crystals growing in gel.

Fringes represent equal concentration levels.
Mach-Zehnder Interferometer
Setup
Mach-Zehnder Interferometer
Setup
Mach-Zehnder Interferometer
Setup
The Sagnac Interferometer
The two beams take the same path around the interferometer.

Mirror Not only do both

beams take the
same path through
the device, they
Reflective also pass through
surface Beam-
splitter the same amount of
Input beam glass in the beam
splitter (one pass for
Mirror the return beam and
Possible Non-reflective two passes for the
output beams surface
exit beam).

So its output(s) depend only on the phase shifts at the mirrors.

The Sagnac Interferometer
Reflection off a
The phase shifts at the Mirror front-surface
reflections: mirror yields a
phase shift of p
For the return beam: (180 degrees).

Clockwise path has phase

Beam-
shifts of p, p, p, and 0. Input splitter
beam
Counterclockwise Return
path has phase beam Mirror
shifts of
0, p, p, and p. Reflection off a back-
Reflective Exit surface mirror yields 0
In-phase interference! surface beam phase shift.

For the exit beam: Clockwise path has phase shifts of p, p, p, and 0.
Counterclockwise path has phase shifts of 0, p, p, and 0.
Perfect cancellation!
All the light returns to the source!
The Sagnac interferometer senses rotation.
Suppose that the beam splitter moves by a distance, d, in the time, T,
it takes light to circumnavigate the Sagnac interferometer.
So one beam will travel more (d), and the other less distance (- d).
2
I exit µ E0 exp(ikd ) - E0 exp( -ikd ) µ I 0 sin 2 (kd )
Sagnac
Beam-splitter position when beam exits fiber Interfer-
R ometer
Let R = the interferometer radius, d = Rq q (fiber)
and W = its angular velocity.
Input/output q = WT
Beam-splitter position when beam enters fiber

d = Rq = R (ΩT ) = RΩ(2π R / c ) = 2Ω(π R 2 ) / c = 2 Ω Area / c

Þ I exit µ I 0 sin 2 (2k Ω Area / c ) » 4 I 0 k 2 Ω 2 Area 2 / c 2
Thus, the Sagnac Interferometer's sensitivity to rotation depends on
its area. And it need not be round!
The Fizeau The Fizeau wedge
yields a complex
Wedge pattern of variable-
width fringes, but it
Interferometer can be used to
measure the
wavelength of a
laser beam.
Partially
reflecting
surface

Keep in mind
that the input
beam is large,
Highly reflecting surface so all reflected
beams interfere
with each other.
Fizeau Interferometer
Setup
Fizeau Interferometer
Setup