Michelson Interferometry

Abrar Fayaz
PHY320, Spring 2024
Department of Physics

Abstract
This experiment utilizes a Michelson Interferometer setup to measure the wavelength of an He-Ne laser and
determine the refractive index of air. Through the principles of constructive and destructive interference, the
experiment explored how the interference pattern is influenced by the path difference of light waves. The wavelength
of the laser was determined to be 647.5 nm, with a calculated error of 2.8%. Similarly, the refractive index of air
was deduced by introducing the gas into a tube which yielded a refractive index for air of 1.000266 with a minimal
error of 0.001%. The primary hurdles of this experiment were alignment issues and sensitivity issues; despite which
the data produced were quite accurate compared to expected results.

Introduction
The objective of this experiment is to use a modern interferometry technique to precisely
measure the wavelength of a standard He-Ne laser as well as calculate the refractive index of air.
‘Interometry’ refers to using interference of light as a way to measure things. Therefore, the
measurements taken by this experiment relies primarily on the interference of light. Simply put,
interference takes place when two coherent waves overlap and creates a superposition of the two
waves and this resultant wave is the vector addition of the two waves. In areas where the peak of
one wave lines up with another wave, it creates a larger wave, and this is known as constructive
interference. However, in regions where peak of one wave aligns with the trough of another
wave, the resultant wave is smaller than either one of the waves, and this is known as destructive
interference. Certain conditions need to be met in order to observe constructive or destructive
interference. Destructive interference occurs when there is a path difference of half the
wavelength between the two waves and constructive interference occurs when the path
difference is an integer multiple of the wavelength. These conditions are summarized below:
𝑑 𝑠𝑖𝑛 θ = 𝑚λ 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚 = 0, 1, 2, … (constructive interference)
With path difference being,
λ
Δ𝑧 = 𝑛 2 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑛 = 0, 1, 2, …
1
𝑑𝑠𝑖𝑛θ = (𝑚 + 2) for 𝑚 = 0, 1, 2, … (destructive interference)

With path length difference as,

1 λ
Δ𝑧 = (𝑛 + 2) 2 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑛 = 0, 1, 2, …
 To create an optical path length difference and obtain an interference pattern, a Michelson
Interferometer set-up is used. More about the set-up itself is discussed in the next section. The
system is used to adjust the path length difference and obtain an interference pattern that looks
like concentric circles. Every time the path difference changes, so does the interference fringes
from bright to dark and dark to bright. Therefore, by counting the number of times the fringe
pattern changed using a photodetector, the wavelength of the light can be calculated. For
λ
example, if the fringe changes n times, it means that the path difference (Δ𝑧) changed by 2 each
time. This means the wavelength (λ) is given by:
2 ∗ Δ𝑍
λ=
𝑁
The second part of the experiment involves calculating the refractive index of air. This is
done by using a gas tube that allows the laser light to pass through. The gas tube is connected to
a valve which is connected to a motor to create a vacuum inside the tube. The refractive index is
defined as the ratio of the speed of light in vacuum to the speed of light in the medium for which
the refractive index is calculated. Therefore, when the tube is in vacuum, the number of
wavelengths in it would be:
𝐿
No. of wavelengths = λ

Where L is the length of the tube.

When the tube has gas in it, there should be fewer wavelengths of light by a factor of the
refractive index (n). So, the number of wavelengths would be:
𝐿 𝑛𝐿
No. of wavelengths = λ/𝑛 = λ

Since the light reflects back twice, the total path travelled in the tube is 2L.
The path difference (Δ𝑧) would become:
2𝑛𝐿 2𝐿 2𝐿
Δ𝑧 = − = (𝑛 − 1)
λ λ λ

Each change in interference pattern counts for a change in the path length so for the number of
times the interference pattern changes (M) the equation turns out as:
2𝐿
(𝑛 − 1) = 𝑀
λ
λ𝑣𝑎𝑐𝑢𝑢𝑚
𝑛 =1+𝑀
2𝐿
Experimental Set-Up
This experiment uses two adjustable mirrors, and each can be adjusted either horizontally
or vertically. It also uses a beam-splitter which allows approximately 50% of the light through
and reflects back the other 50%, this is how two beams are generated. It also uses a He-Ne laser,
micrometer, and an interferometry device that displays the count, controls the laser, and turns the
micrometer to move one of the mirrors to obtain change in fringe pattern. A photodetector is used
to detect the fringe pattern and relay it to the interferometry device. The setup also uses a gas
cell, gas transducer, and gas manifold for refractive index calculations. An oscilloscope is also
used to keep track of the changes in the of the interference pattern. To begin with, the
interference pattern must be obtained by aligning the mirrors. Their heights must be
approximately the same within a millimeter and angles need to be changed in order to produce an
interference pattern. A lens was used to magnify the pattern and display it on a screen. A
simplified version of the set-up of the Michelson Interferometer is shown below in Figure 1. The
device also has a DC offset rotatory switch which can be adjusted to make sure the counts are
measured more accurately.

Figure 1: Michelson Interferometer Set-Up. It shows the laser light passing through a beam splitting and
reflecting back from two mirrors to produce a pattern on the screen.
Once everything is lined up and perfect, it should produce an interference pattern on a screen.
The pattern obtained from this experiment is depicted in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Fringe pattern obtained from constructive and destructive interference of light producing
concentric circle/bull’s eye pattern.

After this step, the photodetector is placed in front of the fringe pattern approximately
where the lens was, and this makes it ready to start taking data. When everything is ready, the
motor can be turned on and this moves the micrometer which changes the distance from the
mirror, in turn changing the path length. The number of times the fringe pattern changes can be
seen from the interferometry device and readings for the change in path length can be obtained
from the initial and final readings of the micrometer. This part is repeated several times to obtain
values for the wavelength.
To find the refractive index of air, the gas tube is placed between the beam splitter and
one of the mirrors. This is connected to values which are connected to another motor. The valves
allow air in and also can vacuum the air out of it. The tube is allowed to come to a vacuum and
as this happens, the count is taken for the number of fringe shifts. The vacuum valve is turned off
and air is let back in and the count is taken again for the number of fringe shifts, and this gives
the value of M for the refractive index calculations. The length of the tube was measured with a
ruler.
Results & Discussion
The data for the first part of the experiment to calculate the wavelength of the He-Ne
laser is shown in Table 1. This was repeated several times to obtain an average value for the
wavelength. The count was taken each time for up to around 500 to have more accurate results.
Table 1: Data for Wavelength Calculation of He-Ne Laser
Zinitial (mm) Zfinal (mm) Δ𝑍 (mm) N λ (nm)
0.9767 1.1455 0.1688 539 626
1.1455 1.2147 0.1692 518 653
0.9499 1.1197 0.1698 516 658
1.1197 1.2883 0.1668 516 653

This yields an average value for the wavelength to be 647.5 nm, and this is approximately an
error of 2.8%. This was very close to the actual value which is approximately 630 nm. For the
next part of the experiment, the refractive index of air was calculated, and Table 2 shows the data
for it.
Table 2: Data for Refractive Index of Air Calculation
M (counts) n (refractive index of air)
84 1.000264
83 1.000261
87 1.000274

From the data, the average value for the refractive index of air was 1.000266 which has an error
of approximately 0.001% which is a very low error due to this being a very low number.
This experiment yielded results that are quite close to the expected values which means errors
were quite low. Despite this, some sources of error could have been:
• Alignment issues with the mirrors and lasers.
• The fringes sometimes changed dramatically, and the counter couldn’t always keep up
with its speed.
• Slight movements in the surrounding areas could have also had an impact on the data
since the set-up is quite sensitive.

Conclusion
To conclude, this experiment quite successfully measured the wavelength of an He-Ne
laser as well as the refractive index of air using a Michelson Interferometer set-up. The primary
concepts behind this experiment are constructive and destructive interference of light waves and
how the pattern depends on the path difference of two waves. Using these concepts and a counter
to measure the number of times a fringe pattern changes; the wavelength of the laser was found.
It was recorded to be 647.5 nm with an error of 2.8%. Similarly, the refractive index of air was
also found using a tube of gas. Since the speed of light slightly changes in air versus vacuum, the
path length also changes and the ratio by which it changes is the refractive index. By once again
measuring the number of times the fringe pattern changes, the refractive index can be found. n
for air was measured to be 1.000266 which is an error of 0.001%.

References
Michelson Interferometer Lab Manual, Buffalo State University, 2024
Modern Interferometry | TeachSpin. (n.d.). TeachSpin. https://www.teachspin.com/modern-

interferometry

R. A. Serway, C. J. Moses, C. A. Moyer, Modern Physics (2005). 3rd Edition.