Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 17, 2026

16:11
Implementation of a Reference Interferometer for Nanodetection
Published on: April 26, 2014
Some further aspects of scatter-fringe interferometry
1Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA.
Applied Optics
|January 6, 2010
Abstract:
It is shown that an interferometer using one scatter plate and a plane mirror is well suited for testing long focus optical systems. Stability is automatically achieved in this system because of its +1 magnification. Two methods of introducing straight fringes into the field in order to examine a nearly perfect optical system, and a method of making scatter plates to give high-contrast fringe patterns are described.
Related Concept Videos
Interference and Diffraction
Interference is a characteristic phenomenon exhibited by waves. When two electromagnetic waves interact with their peaks and troughs coinciding, a resulting wave with enhanced amplitude is produced. This is known as constructive interference. In this case, the two waves interacting are in phase with each other.
IR Spectrometers
There are two main infrared (IR) spectrophotometers: dispersive IR spectrometers and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometers. In a dispersive IR spectrometer, a beam of infrared radiation produced by a hot wire is divided into two parallel equal-intensity beams using mirrors. One beam passes through the sample, while another is a reference beam. The beams then move through the monochromator, which separates the radiations into a continuous spectrum of different frequencies. The...
X-ray Crystallography
The size of the unit cell and the arrangement of atoms in a crystal may be determined from measurements of the diffraction of X-rays by the crystal, termed X-ray crystallography.
Diffraction
Diffraction is the change in the direction of travel experienced by an electromagnetic wave when it encounters a physical barrier whose dimensions are comparable to those of the wavelength of the light. X-rays are electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths about as long as the distance between neighboring...
Diffraction
Diffraction is the change in the direction of travel experienced by an electromagnetic wave when it encounters a physical barrier whose dimensions are comparable to those of the wavelength of the light. X-rays are electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths about as long as the distance between neighboring...

