Optics Interference

2.2.07-00 Refraction index of air and CO2 with Michelson interferometer

What you can learn about

 Interference
 Wavelength
 Phase
 Refraction index
 Light velocity
 Virtual light source

Principle:
A measurement cuvette set in the
beam path of a Michelson interfe-
rometer can be evacuated or filled
with CO2. The refraction indexes of
air or CO2 are determined through
the assessed modification of the
interference pattern.

What you need:

Michelson interferometer 08557.00 1
Laser, He-Ne 1.0 mW, 220 V AC 08181.93 1
Glass cell for Faraday effect 08625.00 1
Manual vacuum pump with manometer 08745.00 1
Optical profile bench l = 60 cm 08283.00 1
Base f. opt. profile-bench, adjust. 08284.00 2
Slide mount f. opt. pr.-bench, h = 30 mm 08286.01 2
Slide mount f. opt. pr.-bench, h = 80 mm 08286.02 1
Swinging arm 08256.00 1
Lens holder 08012.00 1
Lens, mounted, f = +5 mm 08017.01 1
Compressed gas, CO2, 21 g 41772.06 1
Fine control valve 33499.00 1
Right angle clamp -PASS- 02040.55 1
Barrel base -PASS- 02006.55 1
Screen, metal, 300300 mm 08062.00 1
Tubing connect., Y-shape, ID 8-9 mm 47518.03 1
PVC tubing, i.d. 7 mm 03985.00 1
Number N of minima changes as a function of air pressure in the measuring
Complete Equipment Set, Manual on CD-ROM included cuvette.
Refraction index of air and CO2
with Michelson interferometer P2220700
You can find more
advanced optics
in this brochure
Order No. 00117.02
(see page 121)

ADVANCED OPTICS
AND LASER PHYSICS

96 Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE Systeme GmbH & Co. KG D - 37070 Gttingen
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Refraction index of air and CO2 with Michelson interferometer 2.2.07
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Related topics Screen, metal, 300300 mm 08062.00 1

Interference, wavelength, phase, refraction index, light veloc- Tubing connect., Y-shape, ID 8-9 mm 47518.03 1
ity, virtual light source. PVC tubing, i.d. 7 mm 03985.00 1

Principle Set-up and procedure

A measurement cuvette set in the beam path of a Michelson The experimental set-up is shown in fig. 1. The cuvette is care-
interferometer can be evacuated or filled with CO2. The fully fastened in the support previously installed. The f = 5 mm
refraction indexes of air or CO2 are determined through the lens situated roughly in the middle between the laser and the
assessed modification of the interference pattern. interferometer is used to broaden the laser beam. The manu-
al pump and the CO2 pressure bottle are connected to the
cuvette over the Y-shaped connector, which is fixed by a dou-
Equipment ble clamp to the stem of the lens support, using flexible PVC
Michelson interferometer 08557.00 1 tubes (< = 7 mm) of adequate length.
Laser, He-Ne 1.0 mW, 220 V AC 08181.93 1 The light spots observed on the screen are brought to cover-
Glass cell for Faraday effect 08625.00 1 age using the two adjustment screws at the back of one of the
Manual vacuum pump with manometer 08745.00 1 mirrors. Continue adjusting until concentric interference rings
Optical profile bench l = 60 cm 08283.00 1 appear.
Base f. opt. profile-bench, adjust. 08284.00 2 At the beginning of measurement, the second mirror is set
Slide mount f. opt. pr.-bench, h = 30 mm 08286.01 2 with the screw micrometer so that the centre of the interfer-
Slide mount f. opt. pr.-bench, h = 80 mm 08286.02 1 ence rings is dark. To determine the refraction index of air,
Swinging arm 08256.00 1 pressure in the cuvette is gradually reduced with the manual
Lens holder 08012.00 1 pump. During this process, the interference rings draw togeth-
Lens, mounted, f = +5 mm 08017.01 1 er, and alternating darkness and light is observed at the cen-
Compressed gas, CO2, 21 g 41772.06 1 tre. The number N of appearing minima is plotted against the
Fine control valve 33499.00 1 corresponding values of air pressure. The measurement is
Right angle clamp -PASS- 02040.55 1 repeated several times, and the cuvette is vented over the
Barrel base -PASS- 02006.55 1 manual pump between every measurement series.

Caution: Never look directly into a non attenuated laser beam

Fig. 1: Experimental set-up: Refraction index of air and CO2 with Michelson interferometer.

PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen 22207-00 1
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2.2.07 Refraction index of air and CO2 with Michelson interferometer
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Fig. 2: Schematic representation of Michelsons set-up. The resulting wave can be expressed as:

y  A sin 1vt  d 2 (2)

with the following amplitude

A2 = a21 + a22 + 2a1a2 cos E (3)

and phase relation

E = B1 B2 . (4)

Now imagine one mirror is turned towards the other one, so

that they are both parallel and separated by a distance d
(fig. 3). When observed under an angle V, the two reflected
images of the light source are separated by a distance 2d.
Constructive interference will appear when

2d cosV = mM ; m = 1,2,3, (5)

(M = wavelength of the used light)

To determine the refraction index of CO2, the cuvette is care-

fully filled with this gas over the reducing valve. During this
process, the number of interference rings coming out of the
centre of the interference system must be determined.
Before measuring again, the CO2 gas must be removed from
the cuvette. For this, evacuate the cuvette with the manual
pump and fill it again with air. Repeat this procedure several
times.
If the change of the interference pattern is too fast to permit
reliable counting, measurement can be carried out alternative-
ly as follows:
the cuvette, filled with CO2 at atmospheric pressure, is evac-
uated again; the change of interference patterns can be easi-
ly followed during this process. The value for CO2 gas is deter-
mined from the corresponding values for air.
Attention: to avoid damages to the cuvette due to over-
pressure, it is imperative to remove the pressure probe
during this measurement, so the outlet channel of the
cuvette will be free. Fig. 3: Schematic representation of the determination of the
phase position of the interfering partial beams.

Theory and evaluation

In Michelsons interferometer, a light beam is split into two As V remains constant, circular rings appear for determined
partial beams of equal amplitude by means of a semi trans- values of m and d.
parent glass plate S3 (fig. 2). The light beams are reflected on If both partial beams have the same amplitude a = a1 = a2,
mirrors S1 and S2, and after having travelled different paths, using (3), the following holds for the intensity distribution:
they are reunited after the glass plate. Depending on the path
difference and on the resulting phase shift between the partial
beams, constructive or destructive interference is observed. d 2p
I r A2  4a2 cos2 with d  2d cos u (6)
If two waves of the same frequency W ( but different ampli- 2 l
tudes a and with different phases B impinge at the same
place, they will overlap to a wave Peaks will appear whenever V is a multiple of 2p.
If the movable mirror is shifted by %d = N M/2, N new interfer-
y = a1 sin (Wt B1) + a2 sin (Wt B2) (1) ence rings will appear.

2 22207-00 PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen
 LEP
Refraction index of air and CO2 with Michelson interferometer 2.2.07
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Determination of the refraction index of air Taking into account the fact that light travels twice through the
The refraction index n of a gas is linearly dependent on pres- cuvette, (10) and (11) yield:
sure p:
n 1p  p2  n 1p2  5N1p2  N1p  p2 6
l
(12)
n 1p2  n 1p  0 2 
n 2s
p (7)
p
and with (8) one obtains:
Theoretically, if p = 0, absolute vacuum prevails and n = 1.
To start with, the difference quotient %n/%p is determined from n N l
  (13)
the measurement data: p p 2s
n n 1p  p2  n 1p2
 (8)
p p In fig. 4, the number of changes of minima is plotted against
the corresponding pressures p, up to N = 7.
The following is valid for the optical path x: Using (13) and (7) (with s = 10 mm, M = 632.8 nm and n (p = 0)
x = n (p) s (9) = 1), the slope of the straight line, %N/%p = 8.45  103 mbar1,
yields a value of n = 1.000268. The ambient atmospheric pres-
where s is the geometrical length of the evacuated cuvette and sure was 1004 mbar.
n (p) the refraction index of the gas contained in the cuvette. The corresponding value found in literature for normal pres-
Varying pressure in the cuvette by %p, the optical wavelength sure (p = 1013 mbar) at a temperature of 22 C and for a wave-
is changed by %x: length of M = 632.8 nm, is n = 1.000269.

%x = n (p + %p) s n (p) s (10)

Determination of the refraction index of CO2
Starting off at ambient pressure p0 and decreasing pressure, Air and CO2 have different refraction indexes, so the change
one observes N times the restoration of the initial position of of refraction index is proportional to the amount of CO2 intro-
the interference pattern (e. g. an intensity minimum at the cen- duced into the cuvette. For the different optical paths x in the
tre of a ring) up to a given pressure p. A change from minimum cuvette, one thus finds:
to minimum corresponds to a change of the optical path by a
wavelength l. Thus, between pressures p and %p, the optical x1 = n1 2s for air with a refraction index n1 (14)
path changes by:
x2 = n2 2s for CO2 with a refraction index n2 (15)
%x = { n (p) n (p + %p) } l (11)
The change of optical path %x is determined by counting the
changes between peaks and minima. A change from a peak to
a minimum corresponds to a change by M/2. If N changes
occur, the total change of the optical path is:
l
x  N (16)
2

and thus, the following is valid:

x2 = x1 + %x ; n2 = n1 + %n (17)

From (14), (15) and (17), one obtains:

%x = 2s %n (18)

Measurements show that when the cuvette is filled with CO2

gas, 9 changes between peaks and minima are observed. This
corresponds to a change of the optical path by %x = 4.5 l.
One thus obtains from (18):
4.5 l
%n = = 1.42 104 (19)
2s
When the refraction index of air decreases during the evacua-
tion of the cuvette, one observes that the interference rings
draw together towards the centre. The opposite behaviour is
observed during the filling process with CO2 gas, that is, the
interference rings come out of the centre. This allows to con-
clude that the refraction index of CO2 is larger than that of air.
With the value given in (19) and the result found for air, one
finally obtains that n(CO2) = 1.000410. The corresponding
Fig. 4: Number N of minima changes as a function of air pres- value found in literature for normal pressure and at 20 C is
sure in the measuring cuvette. n(Lit.) = 1.000416.

PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen 22207-00 3
 LEP
2.2.07 Refraction index of air and CO2 with Michelson interferometer
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4 22207-00 PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen