| Abstrakt: |
Interference, as a technique, constitutes a powerful tool in the study of visual phenomena, by creating interference patterns-hence the term "interferometer". Interferometers as research tools used in many fields of optical technology, regardless of their size or structure, act as light splitters (division of amplitude) thus splitting a beam of light into two parts. Each part is made to travel a different path and brought back together where they interfere according to their path length difference. The interference pattern conveys information relative to the optical wave or transparent media which is rotated in one of the two parts. This work deals with the technique for measuring the refractive index of materials based on the interferometry of a rotated parallel plate. The apparatus employs a Michelson interferometer, a sample rotation system consisting of a circular platform placed on the rotation axis of a servo motor controlled by an Arduino UNO, Rev3 microcontroller and an optoelectronic registration system. The refractive index of a parallel plates sample is determined by its rotation through measuring simultaneously a shift of interference fringes. Although this technique is well known, a considerable increase of accuracy is reached in our case by an automation of the measuring procedure. In the fully automated measurement process, Pasco's Rotary Motion Sensor, combined with the PASPORT Light Level Sensor and Data Studio software from the same company, was used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
