Rayleigh interferometer

<h2 id="principle-of-operation">Principle of Operation</h2>

<p>Light from a source (left) is collimated by a lens and split into two beams using slits. The beams are sent through two different paths and pass through compensating plates. They are brought to a focus by a second lens (bottom) where an <a href="/facts/Interference_pattern/lI5f78I4">interference pattern</a> is observed to determine the <a href="/facts/Optical_path/tXu2qmnN">optical path</a> difference in terms of wavelengths of the light.
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<h2 id="advantages-and-disadvantages">Advantages and disadvantages</h2>
<p>The advantage of the Rayleigh interferometer is its simple construction. Its drawbacks are (i) it requires a point or line source of light for good fringe visibility, and (ii) the fringes must be viewed with high magnification.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a>
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<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/List_of_types_of_interferometers/Apj0S2xe">List of types of interferometers</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Busch, Kenneth W. (1990). "§6.6.5 The Rayleigh interferometer". Multielement detection systems for spectrochemical analysis. New York: Wiley. p. 231. ISBN 0-471-81974-3. <a href="0-471-81974-3" target="_blank">0-471-81974-3</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Hariharan, P. (2007). Basics of interferometry (2nd ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier Academic Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-0123735898. <a href="978-0123735898" target="_blank">978-0123735898</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
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Rayleigh interferometer open-in-new

Rayleigh interferometer