INTERFEROMETRY (2)
Gauge Interferometer
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Light from the cadmium lamp is condensed by lens J on to
a pin-hole, thus providing an intense point source, in the
focal plane of the collimating lens F. The resulting parallel
beam passes to a prism, where its colours are split. By
varying the angle of the reflecting faces of the prism
relative to the reference plane B of the platen any
wavelength can be selected.
The beam is turned through 90o and directed to the plane
C, the lower surface of which is semi-reflective. Part of the
light is reflected upwards, and part is transmitted to the
upper surface of the slip gauge and to the reference plane
of the platen B. Light reflected from each of these surfaces
passes back through the optical system, but its axis is
deviated slightly due to the inclination of plane C, so that it
is interrupted by prism R to be turned through 90o into the
eyepiece.
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Measurement procedure
The fringe pattern observed is as shown in figure. One set of
fringes is due to the reflecting surface of the platen, and
superimposed are those due to the upper surface of the slip
gauge wrung to the platen.
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G (height of gauge) is equal to a whole number of half
wavelengths (n) plus the fraction (a/b).
G = H – h = [n . /2] + [(a/b)./2]
If the measurement of the slip gauge is performed using
three different wavelength (1, 2 and 3) then three
observed fractions will be obtained these are:
(a1/b1), (a2/b2), (a3/b3) which be expressed as f1, f2 and
f3 respectively
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G = 1/2.(n1 + f1)
G = 2/2.(n2 + f2)
G = 3/2.(n3 + f3)
Where; f1, f2 and f3 are the observed fractions and are not
necessarily equal to the values which would be obtained by
calculation using the nominal height of the gauge.
Therefore for the nominal size of the gauge:
GN = 1/2.(N1 + F1)
GN = 2/2.(N2 + F2)
GN = 3/2.(N3 + F3)
GN: nominal gauge height
N: number of whole half wavelengths in GN
F: Calculated fractional displacement of fringes
Combining the two sets of equations:
G – GN = /2.[(n-N) + (f-F)] 6
Example
Assuming that the nominal height for the slip gauge is
10.000 mm. Three wavelengths, red, green and violet are
used in measurement. The wavelength for each color along
with its corresponding observed fraction are shown in table.
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G-GN = 0.643/2.[(n1-N1) + (0.70-0.20)] m
G-GN = 0.508/2.[(n2-N2) + (0.20-0.08)] m
G-GN = 0.467/2.[(n3-N3) + (0.00-0.55)] m
Therefore
G-GN = 0.643/2.[(n1-N1) + (0.50)] m
G-GN = 0.508/2.[(n2-N2) + (0.12)] m
G-GN = 0.467/2.[(n3-N3) + (0.45)] m
(1 – 0.55) = 0.45
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The values (n1 – N1), (n2 – N2) and (n3 – N3) are unknown
but it is known that:
a) they are whole numbers
b) they are relatively small numbers
They can be found by trial and error:
(n1 – N1) = 2
(n2 – N2) = 3
(n3 – N3) = 3
And therefore:
G – GN = 0.80 m
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Calculation of mean error
E = G-GN = λ/2 [(n-N) + (f-F)]
F1 = 0.20, f1 = 0.70, (n1 – N1) = 2
E1 = 0.643/2 (2 + 0.50) = 0.804 µm
F2 = 0.08, f2 = 0.20, (n2 – N2) = 3
E2 = 0.508/2 (3 + 0.12) = 0.792 µm
F3 = 0.55, f3 = 0.00, (n3 – N3) = 3
E3 = 0.467/2 (3 + 0.45) = 0.806 µm
Mean Error in Gauge Length (µm)
(E1 + E2 +E3) / 3 = 0.80 m
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