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Modern Interferometry 
Modern Interferometry Brochure (3.5 MB PDF) The photograph above shows a group of the MI1-A components mounted in a Sagnac configuration. In the background is the electronic controller that is used to count the fringes. The controller also supports the optical detectors and the power supplies needed for the various light sources supplied with the system. Modern Interferometry includes the three mirror mounts being used in the photograph above. They were developed in collaboration with Science Research Laboratory, Inc. (SRL) of Somerville, MA, under an NSF SBIR. With only one degree of freedom, horizontal or vertical, these proprietary flexure mounts provide unique ultra-high mechanical stability for the crucial mirror elements. The picture at the right shows a flexure mirror mount with a vertical hinge which will deflect the beam horizontally. The mount is attached to a proprietary stationary base which can be bolted to the optical breadboard in a three different orientations to give a 180, 90 or 46 degree reflection. The kit also includes two "translation stages" for controlling the positions of these mirrors. One, driven by an ordinary micrometer, is a commercial stage offering 0 - 25 mm range. The other is a proprietary flexure-translation stage which allows ±1 mm of pure translation, preserving full fringe contrast as the mirror is moved without rotation. This flexure translation stage is driven by a differential micrometer featuring 0.1 µm position resolution. It can be adjusted either by hand or by an included motor drive. With this level of position resolution, it is possible to establish stable control of simple interferometric fringes. With this range of translation, it is possible to count hundreds, or thousands, of fringes. A detailed list of the components included in the kit is in a pdf which can be reached by the link at the top of the page. Some highlights are described below. The laser light sources are a HeNe laser and a 650 nm adjustable focus Diode Laser. A halogen lamp and a red/green LED act as sources for white-light interferometry experiments. Standard supports for all optical components are included along with three proprietary flexure mirror mounts with mirrors already attached, one with horizontal and two with vertical tilts. There are also various filter and lens holders and alignment tools.. In the list of optical components you will find polarizing beam splitting cubes, dielectric and Inconel beam splitters, quartz and glass phase shifters and a variety of lenses. Please read about it in the Modern Interferometry Brochure (PDF 3.5 MB). |
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